Here’s where the DOJ will deploy election monitors during the midterms

Despite announcing that it will send 1,000 election monitors to observe voting across the country next week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has refused to directly state where those deployments will be. 

It has, however, notified state and local election officials — sometimes while also seeking permission to enter polling places, instead of monitoring from the standard 100-foot distance required by law. News reports out of 21 states offer a snapshot of some of the cities and counties that will be monitored this year. 

In the past, DOJ election monitors focused on areas where voters have faced issues casting their ballots in potential violation of federal laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act and the National Voter Registration Act. 

This year, the focus is “election security,” as Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon has made clear. And a far more obvious throughline connects the locations targeted by the DOJ: They are almost all Democratic strongholds. 

Across the 21 states, the department is focusing on the largest cities and counties and on those districts hosting competitive congressional races this year. Many of those locations overlap with places the DOJ has monitored in the past. 

In Pennsylvania, for example, Philadelphia County and Pittsburgh’s Allegheny County — the two most populous in the state, both Democratic strongholds — are on the list. So are Lehigh County in the 7th Congressional District and Luzerne County in the 8th, where Democratic challengers hope to unseat Republican incumbents. In 2022, Philadelphia, Lehigh and Luzerne were all monitored by the DOJ, along with mostly rural Berks county and Centre county, home to Penn State University. 

But there are also some big differences this year. 

This time around, the risk of voter intimidation is significant, and the DOJ is deploying federal employees from agencies like the Drug Enforcement Administration as monitors. Earlier this year, Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon (R) called for a state investigation into the “irregular” conduct of two Civil Rights Division attorneys during his state’s primary. 

The DOJ’s request for access inside polling places also departs from past agency practices, which have emphasized a more hands-off approach. 

The department has maintained that, other than the number of monitors, this year’s program will operate in accordance with past practices. Monitors should be dressed in business casual attire, not interfere with election officials, not speak with anyone before they cast their ballot and only interview willing individuals outside the polling places about their voting experience.

But civil rights groups fear the expanded monitoring effort is actually aimed at intimidating voters. The NAACP is suing the DOJ for more information about its monitoring plans this year. The litigation is ongoing. 

“We remain determined to pull back the veil on the DOJ’s plans to deploy monitors,” Kristen Clarke, NAACP’s general counsel, said in a statement Thursday. “We will continue to work to ensure that all voters can cast ballots free from intimidation and harassment. We encourage everyone who is eligible – if they have not already done so – to cast their ballots before voting ends the night of November 3rd.”

Below are the specified election monitor target jurisdictions Democracy Docket was able to find through news reports with links to the sources.

 Where you might not dodge DOJ on Election Day

Arkansas: Pulaski and Washington counties

Colorado: Adams County

Florida: Miami-Dade County 

Georgia: Chatham, Bibb, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties

Indiana: Lake and Marion counties 

Kentucky: Fayette and Jefferson counties

Maine: Portland, South Portland and Lewiston

Maryland: Prince George’s County

Michigan: Detroit, East Lansing, Flint, Grand Rapids, Hamtramck, Lansing and Warren

Minnesota: Hennepin and Ramsey counties

New Hampshire: Manchester and Nashua 

North Carolina: Wake, Alamance and Mecklenburg counties 

Ohio: Cuyahoga and Medina counties

Oklahoma: Tulsa, Oklahoma and Muskogee counties

Oregon: Multnomah County

Pennsylvania: Philadelphia, Allegheny, Luzerne and Lehigh counties

South Dakota: Minnehaha County

Utah: Salt Lake County 

Virginia: Virginia Beach (Note: During a press briefing this week, the Virginia Department of Elections confirmed there would be a “number” of localities with DOJ monitors, but declined to say which.)

Washington: King County

Wyoming: Laramie County