Justice Department Plans 1,000 Election Monitors for Midterms as Civil Rights Division Loses 70% of Staff
Updated
Updated · CBS New York · Aug 18
Justice Department Plans 1,000 Election Monitors for Midterms as Civil Rights Division Loses 70% of Staff
3 articles · Updated · CBS New York · Aug 18
Summary
A record 1,000 federal monitors are being prepared for U.S. midterm polling places, far above the 86 jurisdictions in 27 states covered in the 2024 general election.
More than 70% of the Civil Rights Division's career staff have retired or resigned, so the department plans to fill the effort with volunteers from DOJ and other federal offices, including U.S. Attorney's Offices.
Miami-Dade County, Florida, and Laramie County, Wyoming, were named Tuesday for primary-election monitoring, with a fuller location list due after primaries conclude.
The expanded deployment comes as 31 DOJ lawsuits seek unredacted state voter data; judges have rejected the government's requests in 23 cases, and some states say the push undermines confidence in election integrity.
The monitors' stated mission is enforcing the Voting Rights Act against discrimination and intimidation, but the broader election effort is drawing scrutiny amid Trump's false 2020 election claims and related FBI investigations.