The Department of Justice will be sending election monitors to certain parts of Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia and Lehigh County, for the upcoming midterm election.
In a letter sent to Pennsylvania’s Secretary of State, a trial attorney from the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ said that election monitors will be present at polling places on Nov. 3, and that the monitoring will be “done in the same way as it was done in the past.”
Election monitors dress in business casual clothing and do not wear pins or other identification markers that they are with the DOJ, but they do inform the poll manager of their presence.
Election monitors also do not interfere with the polling activities. If they do see an election issue, they contact the designee for the jurisdiction about the issue.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of State, election monitors can keep a list of voters, inspect a numbered voter list or voter checklist while no voters are present and in the presence of a poll worker.
Election monitors can also “make good faith challenges to an elector’s identity or continued residence in the
election district, which must be lodged directly with the judge of elections,” according to the Pa. Department of State.
However, election monitors cannot “make challenges based on race, national origin, appearance, surname,
language, religion, or other protected characteristic,” engage in electioneering or engage in voter influence or intimation.
Examples of voter intimidation include taking photos or videos of voters, giving out false or misleading information to voters, blocking the entrance to the polling place, as well as engaging in threatening behavior or hovering over, confronting or speaking with voters.
In addition to Philadelphia and Lehigh County, election monitors will be present at polling places in Luzerne and Allegheny counties, according to the DOJ letter.
In addition to the Department of Justice, other non-government organizations, including the Democratic and Republican National Comittee, plan to send election monitors to polling places across the country on Election Day, according to NBC News.
Election monitors from political organizations have to follow the same rules as monitors from the Department of Justice.
