Federal judge orders DOJ to ensure poll monitors are not law enforcement officials

A federal judge has allowed the Justice Department to send election monitors to polling places on Election Day, rejecting the NAACP’s request to block the programme. Judge Reggie Walton ruled that the evidence did not show the group was likely to succeed in arguing that the deployment would intimidate voters or interfere with their rights.

Walton ordered the department to ensure monitors are administrative or clerical staff, unarmed, out of uniform and without agency insignia, and unable to make arrests. They must not interfere with voters or election officials, and may speak to voters outside polling places only after they have voted. The ruling followed allegations that more than 1,000 federal personnel could be deployed; the department said it excluded sworn officers from the programme.