Justice Department tells counties in at least 8 states to expect federal monitors on Election Day

Letters from the U.S. Justice Department are landing on the desks of local election officials across the country this week. Each one says the same thing: federal monitors plan to show up at polling places in that community on Election Day, Nov. 3.

By Thursday the notices had reached counties and cities in at least eight states. Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Texas, Utah and Washington all confirmed that some of their voters will cast ballots with Justice Department staff watching. More letters appeared to be going out by the day. The department has said it will share its full list closer to the election.

Federal monitors are nothing new. The department sent them to 64 jurisdictions in 24 states during the 2022 midterms. What is different this year is the size of the plan. Harmeet Dhillon, who runs the department's Civil Rights Division, said last month that about 1,000 monitors would fan out nationwide in what she called the largest such effort in its history.

Who got a letter

In Michigan the list covers Detroit, Flint, Lansing, East Lansing, Grand Rapids, Hamtramck and Warren. Detroit and Flint both have Black majorities, while Hamtramck is home to one of the biggest Arab and South Asian American communities in the state.

In Indiana the monitors are headed to Marion County, home of Indianapolis, as well as Lake County in the northwest corner of the state. Colorado's Adams and Douglas counties got letters, as did Salt Lake County in Utah, King County in Washington, Miami-Dade County in Florida, Hennepin and Ramsey counties in Minnesota and seven counties in Texas.

The department said it picked Adams County in part because federal law requires it to offer ballots and voting help in Spanish. The county also anchors the Democratic side of Colorado's 8th Congressional District, a toss-up seat that could help decide control of the U.S. House.

Local officials ask why

Some officials say they were given no reason at all. Marion County's clerk said her office was never told what standard was used to choose her county or the other Indiana county on the list.

Rep. André Carson, a Democrat from Indianapolis, was blunter. He said it was no accident that the two Indiana counties chosen have some of the state's biggest shares of Democratic and minority voters. He also noted the timing, just weeks before an election.

A department spokesperson said monitors will be in all 50 states doing the kind of routine watching the agency has done for decades. Their job, the spokesperson said, is to look for possible violations of federal law and report back, with any follow-up coming after Election Day. The letters say monitors will only observe and take notes.

What monitors can and cannot do

State leaders spent Thursday trying to calm voters. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said monitors are a normal part of elections and are expected to follow state and federal law. She added that her office will act against anyone who tries to intimidate voters or election workers, no matter who they are. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said the state's elections are safe and secure.

Under Michigan rules a federal monitor stands in the same spot as any other poll watcher. They cannot talk to voters, touch ballots or voting machines or get in the way of the people running the election.

Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, a Republican, said her office got its letter on Wednesday. She said the monitors will not carry weapons, will not wear badges and will not approach voters. She said she was glad for the advance notice and expects most voters will never notice them.

Some states have pushed back before. Minnesota kept monitors from getting close to polling places during its August primary and has not said what it will do this time. Texas went to court in 2024 to keep monitors out of polling and counting sites.

Indianapolis election staff say they have already trained poll workers on what to do if federal officers arrive. Federal law bars armed federal officers from entering voting sites.

Voters who see something that worries them can report it to their local election office or their state's top election official. Early voting is already underway in many states.