DOJ confirms it’s sending election monitors to Louisiana — and all 50 states

An unspecified number of election monitors from the U.S. Department of Justice will be sent to Louisiana for the Nov. 3 election, but an agency spokesman said the deployment is nothing out of the ordinary and similar to measures it has taken for decades in previous elections.

A spokesman for the Louisiana Secretary of State said Friday its officials were “indirectly informed” the DOJ will send election monitors to certain jurisdictions, but the state has not received any official notice of its plans or the parishes where they will be stationed.

When asked to confirm its plans, an unnamed Justice Department representative responded via email Friday that the agency will have monitors in all 50 states. U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche has previously said roughly 1,000 monitors are being sent across the country, adding that his agency routinely sends out these workers for elections.

“All monitors must meet the same legal and ethical requirements, including that they not interfere with the voting process,” a DOJ spokesperson said in an email to the Illuminator. “Every monitor has the same role: observe for potential violations of federal law and report concerns to the Department, which the Department will review after Election Day and act where appropriate.”

Some states have provided more information on DOJ monitoring plans for the Nov. 3 election. 

In Michigan, Attorney General Dana Nessel issued a news release Thursday that said the DOJ sent notices to communities in the state that federal monitors would be sent to their polling places on Election Day. They include Detroit, East Lansing, Flint, Grand Rapids and Lansing.

Federal monitors are also being sent to three Oklahoma counties, including the two most populous, according to its state election board. 

Salt Lake County in Utah has learned federal monitors will be present on Election Day. Lt. Gov. Diedre Henderson said she expects more but hasn’t learned details of where they will be deployed.

Henderson is among GOP state elections officials who have not met the Trump administration’s demand to provide their voter data.      

Election monitors’ duties include ensuring that polling places are in compliance with federal laws such as the Voting Rights Act and measures that ensure access for the elderly and disabled.

The Trump administration’s every move ahead of Election Day is drawing scrutiny as the president has spent months strongly suggesting the federal government take over elections from states, which goes against what’s laid out in Article 1, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution.

WIthout any supporting evidence, Trump continues to claim the 2020 presidential election was “rigged” against him that Democrats will cheat in the midterm elections to take control from Republicans in the U.S. House and Senate. 

Courtrooms have become the Trump administration’s most frequent forum to take on state election officials, including some Republicans who have rejected his demands to turn over voter rolls to ensure noncitizens don’t cast ballots. 

Louisiana was the first state to use a new voter list maintenance database from the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency, providing Secretary of State Nancy Landry with information to check voters’ immigration status. Landry, a Republican, confirmed in January detailed information on Louisiana voters would be provided to the Department of Justice. She said state officials determined they had to comply with the DOJ’s request, The Times-Picayune reported.  

The Trump administration has continued to pursue legal action heading up to the Nov. 3 election as polls show Republican candidates losing ground in congressional races. 

Earlier this month, the DOJ sued California to block some 20,000 ballots that the feds claimed were mailed to noncitizens. And on Thursday, the administration filed a lawsuit against Alaska in the event that a Democrat wins its U.S. Senate race.