US Justice Department plans to deploy about 1,000 observers for midterm elections — Dawn
The US Department of Justice plans to deploy about 1,000 observers to all 50 states on the day of the November 3 midterm elections. This is about three times more than during the previous midterm elections and could become the largest monitoring program in the department’s history, Dawn reports.
The expansion of the program has raised concerns in a number of Democratic-led states, as well as among some Republican election officials. Critics consider the federal government’s actions excessive interference in the electoral process. President Donald Trump’s administration, for its part, says stricter measures are needed to maintain confidence in voting.
States prepare their own oversight
During the August primaries in Minnesota, about 40 state employees working in pairs tracked the movements of Justice Department lawyers in Hennepin and Ramsey counties. Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said his office would likely continue coordinating with the state attorney general’s office to accompany federal observers on the day of the midterm elections as well. California has launched a similar program.
In Nevada, the state’s chief election official, Cisco Aguilar, said law enforcement officers would be trained to remove Justice Department observers if they violated rules or refused to leave a polling place. In Maine, local election leaders were instructed to contact state authorities if federal representatives requested permission to observe.
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Laws in some states and local regulations allow Justice Department representatives to be denied entry into voting locations. Federal observers may watch the process, speak with voters after they leave polling places, and report urgent problems to local law enforcement or election officials. At the same time, they may not conduct investigations directly at polling places or prevent anyone from voting.
Disputes over prosecutors’ role
For decades, the Justice Department has dispatched observers to document possible civil rights violations, including the absence of Spanish-language ballots or the inaccessibility of polling places for people with disabilities. According to department spokeswoman Kirsten Pells, participants in the new program will be trained not to interfere in election procedures and to counter voter intimidation.
Civil rights organizations are concerned about plans to involve criminal prosecutors in observation, as the department previously usually used civil lawyers and support staff. The NAACP filed a lawsuit seeking to bar prosecutors and other law enforcement officers from working as observers, calling such plans voter intimidation. Pells said observers would not identify themselves as prosecutors and that the lawsuit is based on unfounded fears.
The Justice Department also said its employees would document possible violations of federal election law, including possible voting by non-US citizens. At the same time, an unnamed senior department official said observers would not check voters’ citizenship on Election Day. The department has not yet said exactly where it will place its representatives.
