DOJ sending election monitors to polling places in some Mass. and NH cities
The U.S. Department of Justice is preparing to deploy approximately 1,000 election monitors across all 50 states on Election Day, including in several Massachusetts and New Hampshire communities, amid concerns over whether their presence could discourage some Americans from heading to the polls.
Tuesday in Massachusetts, federal monitors are expected in Lowell and Boston, as well as in Manchester and Nashua, New Hampshire.
The DOJ described the effort as routine election monitoring intended to identify potential violations of federal law. But Democratic lawmakers and voting rights advocates have raised concerns that the monitors could intimidate voters or fail to adequately protect against civil rights violations.
In Lowell, where federal observers have monitored three of the last five general elections, Elections Department Director William Rosenberry said residents should not be alarmed.
“We have been subject to this monitoring before. This is routine,” Rosenberry said.
According to Rosenberry, two teams of two federal monitors are expected to visit polling locations throughout the city.
“They kind of just stand there, watch the process. Occasionally, they may step out and interview a voter outside of the polling place after they voted and exited. But they know not to be interfering,” he explained.
The Justice Department said its monitors will be responsible for observing election procedures and reporting potential violations of federal law.
Under the department’s monitoring guidelines, observers must wear plain clothes, refrain from interfering with voting, report concerns to their team leaders, avoid speaking with voters inside polling places and not carry firearms.
This year’s monitoring will be the largest the Department of Justice has ever deployed.
In a statement to NBC10 Boston, the department defended the nationwide deployment.
“We will be in all 50 states, doing the routine election monitoring the department has done for decades,” the agency said. “We will have around 1,000 monitors in counties throughout the United States. Every monitor will merely observe and report any potential violations of federal law to the Department, which will be reviewed after Election Day.”
A senior Justice Department official told NBC News that monitors are being deployed to densely-populated areas, districts with competitive elections and locations that have experienced election-related problems in the past.
However, the department did not explain why Lowell was among the selected cities.
Rosenberry believes Lowell’s history of federal monitoring is connected to its multilingual voting requirements. He said Lowell is the only Massachusetts city required to provide ballots in three languages.
He also emphasized that the federal observers are not immigration enforcement agents.
Vincent Reynauld, a political messaging professor at Emerson College, said repeated claims about election fraud and noncitizen voting have contributed to public mistrust surrounding election administration.
“You have an administration that keeps talking about fraud in elections, about non-citizens voting. So the perceptions that are created by that message are completely different than the perceptions that are created by the local message,” Reynauld said.
He warned that those perceptions could potentially discourage some people from participating in the election.
Democratic lawmakers and voting rights advocates have similarly expressed concerns about possible voter intimidation and whether federal observers will fulfill their responsibility to identify civil rights violations.
Despite the controversy, voters interviewed in Lowell generally expressed little concern about the monitors, provided they do not interfere with the election.
James Kalungi acknowledged that their presence might make some people uncomfortable.
“It’ll be no good for some people,” he said.
Still, Kalungi believes local election workers and volunteers are already doing their part to protect the integrity of the voting process.
“They’re OK to be there. But I think there are people, hardworking volunteers, also, who do their work to make sure everything is right,” he said.
Another Lowell voter, Alison Peng, welcomed the monitors, saying their presence should not interfere with anyone’s freedom to vote.
“This is the country of freedom. So, they can be here, we can choose what we want. They can be here any time,” Peng said.
In addition to the federal observers, Rosenberry said independent monitors will also be present on Election Day to observe the federal monitoring teams themselves.
“It’s safe, secure. Do not be afraid to come out and vote on Nov. 3 if you haven’t voted earlier by mail. If you have concerns, feel free to give us a call. We’re happy to address them,” he said.
The Justice Department maintains that its monitors will only observe and report potential violations, with any concerns reviewed after Election Day and further action taken where appropriate.
Decision 2026
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