The US Justice Department sent officials across the country on Tuesday to monitor midterm voting, concentrating largely on jurisdictions that lean Democratic, while also widening a criminal investigation connected to Alaska's campaign for a US Senate seat.
The department announced it was deploying 1,000 election monitors and observers to jurisdictions in all 50 states. Democrat Kamala Harris won about two-thirds of those jurisdictions over President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, according to a Reuters analysis. Black and Latino voters make up a majority in many of the selected areas, which are concentrated in states that could determine control of the Senate.
The Trump administration has pursued an aggressive approach to election oversight, pressing states for voter registration data and arguing that stricter measures are needed to ensure public confidence in the vote. That effort included asking the Supreme Court to temporarily block California from counting mail-in ballots from more than 20,000 voters who federal officials allege are likely noncitizens. The Supreme Court rejected that appeal on Monday night. Critics have described those actions and the monitoring program as potential voter intimidation.
In Alaska, the Senate race was thrown into turmoil after the New York Times reported last week that the campaign of Democratic candidate Mary Peltola helped recruit a third candidate who shares the first and last name of her Republican opponent, Dan Sullivan. Peltola has denied involvement. The Justice Department launched a criminal probe into the allegations, an investigation it is now widening.
The department is sending letters to more than 20 people notifying them that they are subjects of the criminal probe, according to a person familiar with the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity. One of the recipients is voting rights lawyer Marc Elias, whose law firm frequently represents Democrats in court, the person said. "No one should be surprised that President Trump's Department of Justice is targeting me and my law firm on Election Day," Elias said in a statement. "This administration has repeatedly weaponized the DOJ against the President's political enemies despite zero evidence of wrongdoing, and we are the latest targets."
The Justice Department has long sent monitors to states to observe elections, and senior officials have said the observers are being dispatched to ensure compliance with federal law in areas where voters have historically had access issues and could face intimidation efforts in competitive races. "I am very proud we are deploying the largest monitoring effort in DOJ history, and pursuing transparency for elections in an assertive and nondiscriminatory manner," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said in a statement.
The expanded federal monitoring program led several states to issue new guidelines to local election officials and poll workers about the limited authority DOJ observers will have on Election Day. Some jurisdictions, including Hennepin County, Minnesota, which includes Minneapolis, have denied Justice Department requests for access to polling places. DOJ staff cannot conduct investigations on the spot or otherwise stop anyone from voting.
