The U.S. Justice Department plans to send about 1,000 election monitors to polling sites in all 50 states for the Nov. 3 midterms, expanding a decades-old Civil Rights Division practice, department officials and multiple newsrooms reported^3,4,30.

In Pennsylvania, an Oct. 22 Justice Department letter shared with The Philadelphia Inquirer said monitors would go to Philadelphia and Allegheny, Luzerne and Lehigh counties^1,30. DOJ trial attorney James T. Catania wrote that monitors only observe and take notes, identify themselves to poll managers, wear business-casual clothing without department insignia and do not carry firearms¹.

Pennsylvania Deputy Secretary for Elections Jonathan Marks told county officials the monitors have no greater legal access than members of the public and must stay at least 10 feet from voting machines, a Department of State spokesperson said¹. Spokesperson Kiersten Pels said every monitor’s role is to observe for potential federal-law violations and report concerns for review after Election Day, and that monitors must not interfere with voting^2,3,4.

Pels told States Newsroom the department would not disclose the full site list until Election Day^3,30. During the Biden administration, the department sent monitors to 64 jurisdictions in 24 states for the 2022 midterms, States Newsroom reported, citing a Justice Department announcement^3,30.

Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane, a Republican, said two teams would be in Ada County, and Clerk Trent Tripple said about six Idaho-based monitors would be near polling places, not inside⁴. McGrane and Tripple said they were not worried and described the visits as routine⁴.

In New Jersey, Union County has had federal observers inside polling and ballot-counting sites since 2023 under a Biden-era court order on language access; administrator Nicole L. DiRado called that arrangement business as usual². NJ.com reported that other Justice Department monitors in the state must stay outside polling places².

Maine’s secretary of state said federal monitors in Portland and Lewiston would have an observation-only role⁵. Officials in Indiana, Kentucky and one Arkansas county have told the department to remain outside polling locations, The Inquirer reported, citing Newsweek¹.

The NAACP has sued over the deployment, arguing it could disrupt voting; a federal judge in Washington denied an emergency records order, and the case remains pending^1,3,30. A Brennan Center counsel said about 1,000 monitors would be small relative to more than 95,000 polling places counted in 2024 Election Assistance Commission survey data^3,30.

A Wednesday court filing said FBI and ICE employees would not serve as monitors, NJ.com reported, citing Democracy Docket². The full list of monitored locations remains undisclosed until Election Day^3,30.