The U.S. Department of Justice has confirmed in a court filing that neither FBI nor Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will serve as election monitors during next week’s midterm elections.
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In a declaration filed 28 October in federal court in Washington, D.C., the acting chief of the Justice Department’s voting section stated that monitors will not act as law-enforcement personnel. They will observe polling places, take notes, and are prohibited from carrying firearms. The filing came in response to a lawsuit by the NAACP challenging the planned deployment of federal monitors.
According to the declaration, monitors will be drawn from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. One Customs and Border Protection employee detailed to the Department of Justice may also participate. No FBI or ICE employees will serve in monitoring roles.
The Department said the monitors have been trained not to interfere with voting and to follow state and local rules, consistent with past election cycles. Their role is limited to observation and note-taking under the Civil Rights Division’s standard monitoring practices.
The clarification arrives with only days remaining before the 3 November election, as early voting continues across much of the country and final ballot return deadlines approach in mail-voting states.
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