US Justice Department to send election monitors to these NC counties

U.S. Department of Justice election monitors will be in Wake, Alamance, and Mecklenburg counties on Election Day, according to the state Board of Elections. 

The Justice Department announced it would send monitors to every state as part of the largest monitoring effort in history, but did not disclose locations.

The DOJ has sent election monitors to North Carolina in previous elections. This fall’s expansive nationwide effort has Democrats, some Republicans, and voting rights advocates wary because it comes as President Donald Trump attempts to influence elections, States Newsroom has reported.  

Monitors are allowed to enter polling places on Election Day before voting starts in the morning to watch the set-up, and to be inside at night after polls close, state elections board general counsel Tim Hoegemeyer told the DOJ voting rights division in an email obtained by NC Newsline. Hoegemeyer cited state law and election rules in the email.

Early voting turnout so far shows enthusiasm among unaffiliated voters in NC

Additionally, monitors are allowed to approach people outside the polling place buffer zone before or after they vote to ask about their voting experience, Hoegemeyer wrote. Monitors may also contact political parties to request interviews with partisan poll observers. 

According to the Campaign Legal Center, monitors are prohibited by federal law from intimidating, coercing or threatening a voter or anyone helping a voter. 

If approached, voters do not have to answer monitors’ questions, said Jeff Loperfido, chief counsel for voting rights at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. 

“Once the voting act is over, it’s no different from people who do exit polling for candidates,” he said. 

Olivia McCall, Wake’s election director, said the presence of monitors won’t change voters’ experience. 

“I wouldn’t think they would notice anything different,” she said. 

McCall did not know which polling sites monitors will choose. 

The presence of election monitors will give Wake the opportunity to show how well it runs elections and how closely it follows the law, she said. 

“Hopefully, it will be an opportunity for Wake County to shine,” McCall said.