Despite announcing it would send 1,000 election observers to observe voting across the country next week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) declined to directly specify where those deployments will take place.
He did, however, notify state and local election officials — sometimes while also requesting permission to enter polling places, instead of monitoring from the standard 100-foot distance required by law. Reports from 21 states offer a glimpse into some of the cities and counties that will be monitored this year.
In the past, DOJ election observers have focused on areas where voters have faced difficulties voting in potential violation of federal laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act, and the National Voter Registration Act.
This year, the focus is on “election security,” as Deputy Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon has made clear. And a much more obvious line connects the places the DOJ targets: They are almost all Democratic strongholds.
Across all 21 states, the department is focusing on the largest cities and counties as well as districts hosting competitive congressional races this year. Many of these locations overlap with places that the DOJ has monitored in the past.
In Pennsylvania, for example, Philadelphia County and Pittsburgh’s Allegheny County — the state’s two most populous, both Democratic strongholds — are on the list. The same is true for Lehigh County, in the 7th Congressional District, and Luzerne County, in the 8th, where Democratic challengers hope to unseat Republican incumbents. As of 2022, Philadelphia, Lehigh, and Luzerne were all monitored by the DOJ, along with mostly rural Berks County and Center County, home to Penn State University.
But there are also big differences this year.
This time around, the risk of voter intimidation is significant and the DOJ is deploying federal employees from agencies like the Drug Enforcement Administration as observers. Earlier this year, Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon (R) called for a state investigation into the “improper” conduct of two Division of Civil Rights attorneys during his state’s primary.
The DOJ’s request for access inside polling locations also departs from the agencies’ previous practices, which emphasized a more hands-off approach.
The ministry maintained that aside from the number of instructors, this year’s program will operate consistent with past practices. Observers must wear casual business attire, not interfere with election officials, not speak to anyone before voting, and only interview consenting people outside of polling locations about their voting experience.
But civil rights groups worry that this increased surveillance effort is actually aimed at intimidating voters. The NAACP is suing the DOJ for more information on its surveillance plans this year. The dispute is ongoing.
“We remain committed to lifting the veil on the DOJ’s plans to deploy monitors,” Kristen Clarke, general counsel for the NAACP, said in a statement Thursday. “We will continue to work to ensure that all voters can vote without intimidation or harassment. We encourage all eligible people – if they have not already done so – to vote before voting ends on the night of November 3.”
Below are the specified target jurisdictions for election observers that Democracy Docket was able to find through news reports with links to sources.
Where you couldn’t dodge the DOJ on Election Day
Arkansas: Pulaski and Washington Counties
Colorado: Adams County
Florida: Miami-Dade County
Georgia: Chatham, Bibb, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties
Indiana: Lake and Marion Counties
Kentucky: Fayette and Jefferson Counties
Maine: Portland, South Portland and Lewiston
Maryland: Prince George County
Michigan: Detroit, East Lansing, Flint, Grand Rapids, Hamtramck, Lansing and Warren
Minnesota: Hennepin and Ramsey Counties
New Hampshire: Manchester and Nashua
North Carolina: Wake, Alamance and Mecklenburg Counties
Ohio: Cuyahoga and Medina counties
Oklahoma: Tulsa, Oklahoma and Muskogee counties
Oregon: Multnomah County
Pennsylvania: Philadelphia, Allegheny, Luzerne and Lehigh counties
South Dakota: Minnehaha County
Utah: Salt Lake County
Virginia: Virginia Beach (Note: In a press briefing this week, the Virginia Department of Elections confirmed there would be a “number” of localities with DOJ observers, but declined to say which ones.)
Washington: King County
Wyoming: Laramie County
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