Key facts
- The Justice Department said the deployment of 1,000 monitors and observers was the largest Election Day monitoring effort in its history.
- The number of monitors is roughly triple the number in the last midterm election, the department said.
- Department officials have said priorities include areas with a history of voter access issues and competitive races that could be targets of voter intimidation.
- Some state and local laws allow election officials to prevent DOJ monitors from being present inside polling locations, the report said.
- DOJ staff cannot conduct investigations on the spot or stop anyone from voting, according to the report.
- The Justice Department said monitors will be checking for compliance with federal voting rights statutes within the jurisdiction of the Civil Rights Division.
The US Justice Department said on November 3, 2026, that it was deploying 1,000 election monitors and observers to all 50 states, an effort it described as the largest Election Day monitoring program in its history. A department statement identified which jurisdictions within the states would receive monitors and observers.
Department officials have said the priorities include areas with a history of voter access issues and places with competitive races that could be targets of voter intimidation. The number of monitors is roughly triple the number in the last midterm election, according to the department.
The Trump administration has taken an increasingly 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. Critics view the moves as federal overreach.
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 state and local laws allow election officials to prevent DOJ monitors from being present inside polling locations, and DOJ staff cannot conduct investigations on the spot or otherwise stop anyone from voting.
"Election monitors will be checking for compliance with the federal voting rights statutes that fall within the jurisdiction of the (Civil Rights Division)," the Justice Department statement said.