Key facts
- FBI and ICE agents will not serve as election monitors.
- Monitors will observe polling places, take notes, and are prohibited from carrying firearms.
- Employees from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, ATF, and DEA will serve as monitors.
- The NAACP sued to bar prosecutors and law enforcement from serving as monitors, citing voter intimidation concerns.
The US Justice Department stated late on Wednesday that agents and employees from the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement will not be serving as monitors during the midterm elections. This announcement came via a court filing in a federal case initiated by the NAACP, a civil rights organization. The NAACP had argued that the Trump administration's plans for law enforcement personnel to act as monitors constituted voter intimidation. The Justice Department clarified that while agents from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, ATF, and DEA will serve as monitors, no FBI or ICE employees will be involved in this capacity. The filing also noted that monitors are trained not to interfere with voting and are prohibited from carrying firearms.