A man looks over a sample ballot outside a fire station that doubles as a polling place in New Orleans' Garden District on Election Day, Nov. 8, 2022. (Greg LaRose/Louisiana Illuminator)
The U.S. Department of Justice shed some light Tuesday morning on where it will deploy observers for what it has called its largest ever Election Day monitoring effort. In Louisiana, its personnel will be at polling sites in East Baton Rouge, Lafayette and Orleans parishes, according to a statement from the agency.
No information was provided on the specific precincts where monitors will be placed.
Justice officials say they have dispatched monitors for decades in federal election cycles to ensure voting laws are being followed, but they acknowledge this is the first time they are being sent to all 50 states. Approximately 1,000 election monitors and observers from the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division are part of the effort.
Election monitors typically look into whether polling places are in compliance with federal laws such as the Voting Rights Act and that measures have been taken to ensure access for the elderly and disabled.
This year’s DOJ monitoring mission unfolds as it has led the Trump administration’s court actions to suspend vote counting in California and pause the U.S. Senate race in Alaska. President Donald Trump has claimed without evidence that Democrats will “cheat” to ensure their party prevails in the congressional midterm elections.
“Election integrity has been one of the top priorities for this Administration and this Division,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said in the statement. “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.”
Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry confirmed last week her office had been made aware Justice monitors were being sent to the state, but federal officials had not provided her with details on how many were coming or where they would be stationed.
Landry’s staff is monitoring a hotline, 1-800-883-2805, where voters can report concerns or ask questions.
