Federal election monitors to be out at polling places in Cuyahoga and Medina counties

Voters in parts of Ohio may see additional faces at the polls on Tuesday, as federal election monitors will be dispatched to polling places in Cuyahoga and Medina counties.

"We've been having Department of Justice Civil Rights Division monitors coming to Cuyahoga County in even-year general elections for over a decade," said Anthony Perlatti, director of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections. "That's because Cuyahoga County is the one county that appears on the Department of Justice list of entities that must provide voting services in both English and Spanish, bilingual services. We've had them in our county, so it's not a shock. Other counties, I think that would be a little surprising because they're not used to it."

That's how the folks at the Medina County Board of Elections said they felt when they got the email alerting them to the monitors.

"They said that the process is random and that there's not necessarily any rhyme or reason as to why we were included this year," said Nicole Mickley, director of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections. "They won't be in the polling location at all. They'll be standing outside our hundred-foot no-campaign zone, and that they'll be asking voters questions as they leave the polling location, but if voters don't want to talk to them, they don't have to."

Legal experts say their role is, as their name implies, to monitor, not act.

"Federal monitors are there to watch and attend to what's happening in the room, but they are not empowered to interfere or act during the process of elections," said Atiba Ellis, associate dean, Case Western School of Law.

Concerns have been raised that those boundaries could be tested as the Trump Administration has openly questioned how some states conduct their elections.

"If those views are coupled with the use of observers there are those who would worry that this is the weaponizing of DOJ to intimidate voters and intimidate states regarding election results," Ellis said.

In Cuyahoga County, Perlatti doesn't anticipate anything different than what they've seen in the past. "If history repeats itself, they appear just like an observer; they're in the background; they're looking to make sure the bilingual process is there."

"It is against the law for federal officers to go into a polling location; if they do that, they're in violation of the law," said Perlatti.