A day before the midterm elections, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday that its Civil Rights Division plans to dispatch teams to monitor polls in 64 voting jurisdictions in a total of 24 states “for compliance with federal voting rights laws.”
The Biden administration’s Justice Department said in the news release Monday that the division “has regularly monitored elections in the field in jurisdictions around the country” since the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
“The Civil Rights Division will also take complaints from the public nationwide regarding possible violations of the federal voting rights laws through its call center,” the DOJ said. “The Civil Rights Division enforces the federal voting rights laws that protect the rights of all citizens to access the ballot.”
Justice Department to Monitor Polls in 24 States for Compliance with Federal Voting Rights Lawshttps://t.co/dQuBwZ2PTD
— DOJ Civil Rights (@CivilRights) November 7, 2022
The jurisdictions named in the release included five counties in Arizona (Maricopa, Navajo, Pima, Pinal and Yavapai), three in Georgia (Cobb, Fulton and Gwinnett County) and five in Pennsylvania (Berks, Centre, Lehigh, Luzerne County and Philadelphia).
In addition to individuals from the Civil Rights Division, the DOJ said it will deploy poll monitors from U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and, where “authorized by federal court order,” individuals from the Office of Personnel Management.
The statement emphasized that the DOJ’s Criminal Division “enforces federal criminal statutes that prohibit voter intimidation and voter suppression based on race, color, national origin or religion.”
The department also said it will enforce the “Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to ensure that persons with disabilities have a full and equal opportunity to vote.”
The statement provided several points of contact, including phone numbers and website addresses for concerned citizens to file reports or complaints regarding possible violations at polling places.
“On Election Day, Civil Rights Division personnel will be available all day to receive complaints from the public related to possible violations of the federal voting rights laws by a complaint form on the department’s website,” the DOJ said.
According to Politico, the Justice Department is presumably being extra cautious this year given the high stakes of the election, as the total number of jurisdictions it plans to monitor, 64 in 24 states, is up from 44 jurisdictions in 18 states in the 2020 presidential election.
Politico pointed out that it appears the DOJ has added several jurisdictions from 2020 in locations where there was increased contention at polling locations.
Axios reported the department is most concerned about possible “efforts to disrupt” the midterms, pointing to alleged threats of voter intimidation at the polls.
As evidence, it cited separate news reports regarding incidents of “election deniers” signing up to be poll watchers and documented threats against election workers in battleground states such as Arizona.
An FBI report said the highest concentration of election-related threats stemmed from the battleground states in 2020 “with Recounts, Audits, or Public Election Disputes.”
As far as how those threats were carried out, the law enforcement agency said, “Contacts with election workers came through multiple communication modes, including emails (43 percent), social media posts (26 percent), telephone calls (26 percent), letters (2 percent), or in person (2 percent). Email was the most frequent communication platform; 70 percent of emails were sent to the mainline2 of the election worker’s office.”
On the eve of Election Day, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said there were no credible threats to poll workers, Reuters reported.
“Law enforcement has briefed us that there are no specific, credible threats identified at this point,” she said at Tuesday’s media briefing. Jean-Pierre added that President Joe Biden had been briefed “on the threat environment and directed that all appropriate steps be taken to ensure safe and secure voting.”
Here are the jurisdictions the DOJ said it will monitor:
City of Bethel, Alaska;
Dillingham Census Area, Alaska;
Kusilvak Census Area, Alaska;
Sitka City-Borough, Alaska;
Maricopa County, Arizona;
Navajo County, Arizona;
Pima County, Arizona;
Pinal County, Arizona;
Yavapai County, Arizona;
Newton County, Arkansas;
Los Angeles County, California;
Sonoma County, California;
Broward County, Florida;
Miami-Dade County, Florida;
Palm Beach County, Florida;
Cobb County, Georgia;
Fulton County, Georgia;
Gwinnett County, Georgia;
Town of Clinton, Massachusetts;
City of Everett, Massachusetts;
City of Fitchburg, Massachusetts;
City of Leominster, Massachusetts;
City of Malden, Massachusetts;
City of Methuen, Massachusetts;
City of Randolph, Massachusetts;
City of Salem, Massachusetts;
Prince George’s County, Maryland;
City of Detroit, Michigan;
City of Flint, Michigan;
City of Grand Rapids, Michigan;
City of Pontiac, Michigan;
City of Southfield, Michigan;
City of Minneapolis, Minnesota;
Hennepin County, Minnesota;
Ramsey County, Minnesota;
Cole County, Missouri;
Alamance County, North Carolina;
Columbus County, North Carolina;
Harnett County, North Carolina;
Mecklenburg County, North Carolina;
Wayne County, North Carolina;
Middlesex County, New Jersey;
Bernalillo County, New Mexico;
San Juan County, New Mexico;
Clark County, Nevada;
Washoe County, Nevada;
Queens County, New York;
Cuyahoga County, Ohio;
Berks County, Pennsylvania;
Centre County, Pennsylvania;
Lehigh County, Pennsylvania;
Luzerne County, Pennsylvania;
Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania;
City of Pawtucket, Rhode Island;
Horry County, South Carolina;
Dallas County, Texas;
Harris County, Texas;
Waller County, Texas;
San Juan County, Utah;
City of Manassas, Virginia;
City of Manassas Park, Virginia;
Prince William County, Virginia;
City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and,
City of Racine, Wisconsin.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
