The Department of Justice notified counties this week of plans to deploy federal observers on Election Day. Counties in Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Texas and Washington received initial notifications.
Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, announced last month that the department intends to deploy 1,000 observers nationwide — the largest monitoring effort in the department's history.
The deployment represents a sharp increase from 2022, when the Justice Department monitored 64 jurisdictions across 24 states during the midterm elections.
President Trump continues to assert he won the 2020 election and claim widespread fraud — allegations that remain unproven. Local officials and election experts worry federal law enforcement could use such claims to seize ballots during counting or otherwise interfere with election administration.
DOJ spokesperson Kiersten Pels said the specific jurisdictions and total number of areas for monitoring will be released "closer to the election."
During primary elections earlier this year, most states reported no incidents involving Justice Department monitors. Wyoming's Republican governor raised concerns about "aggressive" and "irregular" behavior by monitors during the state's August primary.
The Republican county clerk for Laramie County in Wyoming told NBC News the monitors' conduct "showed complete disregard for our state laws and administration of our elections." The Justice Department disputes that account.
Pels said, "We disagree with the public framing that the two monitors we sent were 'aggressive' or did anything impro. " Dhillon met with Wyoming officials after the primary.
In past election cycles, state officials and counties received monitoring notifications simultaneously. This year, state officials in at least three states told NPR they were not initially notified, forcing them to scramble to determine where DOJ monitors would be stationed.
