US States Prepare for Surge of DOJ Election Watchers
The largest observation effort in department history will include civil rights lawyers and some prosecutors, drawing lawsuits and state objections over voter intimidation concerns.
- The Justice Department plans to deploy nearly 1,000 monitors across all 50 states on Election Day, marking the largest observation effort in the agency's history to ensure compliance with federal election laws.
- Shifting its focus, the Trump administration now prioritizes election fraud and noncitizen voting, deploying criminal prosecutors as monitors for the first time rather than relying on civil rights lawyers as in prior practice.
- Several states have issued new guidelines restricting monitor access, with Minnesota and Colorado counties invoking state law to limit DOJ presence inside polling locations during the August primary and planned November elections.
- Democrat Josh Zygielbaum, clerk of Adams County, Colorado, questioned the federal presence, saying, "My initial thought is that it's politically motivated, and that this is potentially an intimidation technique."
- Critics argue the expanded monitoring could sow doubt about election security as the midterms decide control of Congress, while the Trump administration maintains the effort is necessary to ensure public confidence in the vote.
30 Articles
30 Articles
Omaha World-Herald
US states prepare for surge of DOJ election watchers
The expanded monitor program has led several states to issue new guidelines to local election officials and poll workers about the limited authority DOJ observers will have on Election Day.
DOJ Deploys 1,000 Election Monitors in Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Texas, and Washington
The U. S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has begun notifying local county officials that it intends to deploy election monitors for the upcoming November general election. As of this week, notifications have been sent to jurisdictions in Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Texas, and Washington, with the list of targeted counties reportedly expanding. Harmeet Dhillon, head of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division, stated that the department plans to deploy 1,0…
Trump DOJ blindsides states with federal deployment decried as ‘intimidation’: report
State officials are scrambling after the Justice Department quietly launched a plan one local official fears is designed to intimidate.The DOJ this week began alerting counties in Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Texas and Washington that it intends to send federal monitors to watch their elections, NPR reported Wednesday. In past cycles, state officials learned of such plans alongside the counties, but this time states weren't initially told, offi…
The Justice Department begins notifying counties where it wants to monitor elections
The department has long deployed election monitors, but the Trump administration's unprecedented steps to try to wrestle control over elections have led to new concerns about DOJ monitoring this year.
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