US Justice Department sends about 1,000 election monitors to all 50 states; judge sets strict limits
The US Justice Department is deploying about 1,000 election monitors and observers on Election Day, 3 November, and for the first time in all 50 states, which it calls the largest monitoring effort in its history. The night before, federal judge Reggie Walton refused an NAACP request to block the programme but ordered that the monitors must not be sworn law enforcement officers, must not be armed or in uniform, cannot make arrests and must not speak to voters inside polling places.
The US Justice Department (DOJ) said on Tuesday, 3 November, that it was deploying approximately 1,000 election monitors and observers for the midterm elections, and for the first time in all 50 states. In a press release, the department called it "the largest monitoring effort in history". The number is roughly triple that of the last midterm elections, Reuters reported; in the 2024 presidential election the DOJ monitored 86 jurisdictions in 27 states, according to Axios.
The effort is coordinated by the department's Civil Rights Division. The monitors include its own staff, personnel from other DOJ components and US Attorney's Offices, and federal observers from the Office of Personnel Management. They will check compliance with federal voting rights laws, including the Voting Rights Act, the DOJ said, and published the list of counties and cities it intends to cover, from Maricopa in Arizona and Fulton in Georgia to Los Angeles, Miami-Dade, Broward and Cook County.
"Election integrity has been one of the top priorities for this Administration and this Division," said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon. Voting rights groups, including the NAACP, warn that such a large federal presence could intimidate voters, especially in minority communities.
On Monday night, US District Judge Reggie Walton in Washington denied the NAACP's emergency request to block the programme, finding the group had not shown it was likely to win its case. But he ordered the department to stick to what its lawyers had told the court: the monitors must be administrative or clerical staff, not law enforcement officers, must not be armed with a firearm, must not wear uniforms or any insignia of a federal agency, and will have no power to make arrests.
The judge also ordered the monitors not to interfere with voters or election officials, to follow state and local rules, and not to speak with voters inside polling places. Outside, they may talk to voters only after they have cast their ballot. Monitors must introduce themselves to election officials and carry federal credentials. Walton said his conclusion would be different if the department were sending law enforcement officers with the power to arrest.
Some state and local laws allow election officials to keep DOJ monitors out of polling places, and DOJ staff cannot investigate on the spot or stop anyone from voting, Reuters noted. The department set up a hotline for complaints about federal voting rights laws: 1-800-253-3931.
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