Justice Department Sends Over 1,000 Monitors to U.S. Polls Nov. 3

The U.S. Department of Justice will deploy more than 1,000 election monitors nationwide on November 3. This marks the largest federal monitoring effort in the agency's history.

Federal observers will be present at polling places in four Pennsylvania counties. The specific locations include Allegheny, Philadelphia, Lehigh, and Luzerne. The monitors consist of Justice Department lawyers and trained legal staff.

Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, stated that the monitors will observe but not interfere with the voting process. She clarified their role during an appearance on Real News Network.

Dhillon said the team is not running the election. Instead, they will make notes and verify that language and disability accessibility standards are met. Her goal is to ensure that nothing unusual prevents people from casting ballots.

The department deployed roughly 100 monitors for the recent primary. This new count is about 10 times larger than that previous effort. The agency uses these observers to assess compliance with federal voting rights laws, including the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Help America Vote Act.

It is currently unknown exactly how many monitors will be assigned to the four Pennsylvania counties. The Pennsylvania Department of State issued a statement regarding the presence of federal observers. The state expects everyone working in or observing polling places to follow all applicable state and federal laws.

The Department of State noted that federal monitors do not have greater legal access to polling places than members of the general public.