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Justice Department Deploys 1,000 Election Observers Across All 50 States For Midterms
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DOJ deployed about 1,000 election observers in all 50 states. The operation is described as the largest electoral observation effort in DOJ history.
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DOJ monitors nationwide
The United States Department of Justice deployed 1,000 election observers in all 50 states to oversee the midterm elections this Tuesday, describing the effort as "the largest electoral observation operation in its history." Harmeet K. Dhillon, the deputy attorney general for the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ, said, "I am very proud that we are deploying the largest oversight effort in the history of the Department of Justice." The DOJ said one of its missions was "to ensure electoral integrity, support free and fair elections, and protect the right to vote," while the authority to organize elections remains with the states.
In Georgia, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger promised "quick results" on election night and said he expects early voting to be uploaded by 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Raffensperger also said roughly 1,000 early ballots that need to be rescanned in Fulton County as a precaution will not delay the election results, because the equipment was taken out of service as a precaution due to screen errors.
Court fight and limits
A federal judge rejected an emergency request from the NAACP to prohibit the Department of Justice from deploying federal law enforcement to serve as poll monitors on Election Day, but U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton ordered the Trump administration to provide more information about the monitoring program.
Walton wrote that he was "assuaged" by the federal government’s representations in court and ordered that monitors would be administrative or clerical personnel and not law enforcement officials, would not be in uniform or display any other insignia indicating their affiliation with a federal agency, and would not be armed with a firearm.
Eric Neff, who leads the division’s Voting Section, wrote that the DOJ took "reasonable steps to exclude certain sworn law enforcement officers" from within DOJ from monitoring.
In Nevada, the Nevada Election Observation Network (NEON) trained 217 observers and said it would publish the data its observers collect after the election, with Logan Gifford saying, "I got involved in this process to help strengthen confidence in the election process."
NEON regional coordinator for northern Nevada, Luiza Benisano, said, "I think that builds confidence and reduces political tension and the environment we’re living in," as observers remained at polling places across Nevada on Tuesday.
What happens next
The DOJ’s monitoring plan placed personnel from the Civil Rights Division, U.S. attorney’s offices, and federal observers from the Office of Personnel Management across the country, and it directed voters to report disruptions of violence, threats or intimidation at polling locations to local election officials and police.
In Dallas County, the department said monitors would check for compliance with federal voting rights statutes while maintaining contact with state and local election officials throughout Election Day, and the article said the DOJ regularly sends workers to monitor elections for any discriminatory voting practices.
The DOJ also set up an election issues hotline at 1-800-253-3931 and provided an email address at VEM@usdoj.gov for questions and complaints related to federal voting rights laws.
In South Carolina, the Department of Justice said Charleston was the lone monitoring subject, and the department stated, "Election monitors will be checking for compliance with the federal voting rights statutes" within the Civil Rights Division’s jurisdiction.
The monitoring effort unfolded as President Donald Trump told voters, "We are great now. Two years ago we were terrible," and as the Federal Reserve left its key interest rate unchanged last week, according to DIE WELT.