NPR reported that the U.S. Department of Justice has notified county election offices ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms, bringing federal monitors’ access to polling places into focus.
The notices reached Adams County, Colorado; Miami-Dade County, Florida; Hennepin and Ramsey counties, Minnesota; King County, Washington; and seven Texas counties that NPR did not identify. A notice does not establish whether staff will be sent to a county or permitted inside its polling places.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said in an August interview with RealClearPolitics that the department planned to send about 1,000 monitors nationwide. The department has not announced an actual deployment count. Its Civil Rights Division says staff assess compliance with federal voting rights laws, including requirements concerning language assistance and access for people with disabilities. The department distinguishes that staff from federal observers assigned under qualifying court orders.
Adams County is covered by a federal requirement to provide election information and assistance in Spanish. Justice Department spokesperson Kiersten Pels cited that coverage as one reason the county was selected, NPR reported. Adams County Clerk Josh Zygielbaum told NPR his initial thought was that the monitoring was politically motivated and “potentially an intimidation technique.”
Access has already been contested in Minnesota. For the Aug. 11 primary, Hennepin County denied Justice Department staff a place inside polling sites and said they would remain outside a 100-foot boundary. That decision concerned the primary; it does not determine where staff may stand during the November election.
Colorado’s election rules, effective Oct. 9, require official observers to obtain a letter from the secretary of state specifying their access. The rules provide a process for official observers but do not establish what access Justice Department staff will receive in Adams County.
Federal election monitoring predates this year’s dispute. For the 2022 general election, the Justice Department announced plans to monitor 64 jurisdictions in 24 states. Pels told NPR that details of this year’s deployment would be shared closer to the Nov. 3 vote.
