DOJ Plans Election Monitors in Four States

The Justice Department plans to deploy about 1,000 election monitors nationwide for the November 3 midterms, including in Michigan, Utah, Indiana and Colorado, in what it calls the largest such effort in the department’s history. In Michigan, monitors are expected in Detroit, East Lansing, Flint, Grand Rapids, Hamtramck, Lansing and Warren; state officials say federal observers cannot speak with voters, handle ballots or equipment, or disrupt voting, and state leaders say they will protect voters and election workers from unlawful interference. Colorado notices say monitors will not speak to voters, carry firearms or interfere with voting; officials in Indiana say they received little explanation for selecting Marion and Lake counties. Utah officials do not yet know how many monitors will be sent or where they will be stationed, and the lieutenant governor says they will identify themselves to poll workers, remain unarmed and follow rules protecting voter privacy. Reactions are mixed, with some Republican officials and Michigan leaders describing monitoring as routine and Utah Democrats and the Forward Party criticizing it as potentially intimidating or politically motivated. Utah’s deployment follows a dispute over the DOJ’s demand for unredacted voter rolls and its investigation of Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson after she refused to provide them.