The U.S. Department of Justice sent election monitors to Lowell and Boston on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The deployment was part of the department's largest monitoring effort in history, with approximately 1,000 monitors sent to all 50 states for the first time.

Newton is not among the monitored jurisdictions. But the deployment reached into Middlesex County, where Lowell is the designated location, according to the DOJ's announcement.

The effort marks a sharp increase in scale. The DOJ deployed 289 monitors for the 2022 midterms and 714 for the 2024 presidential election, Newsweek reported.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division said in a statement that election integrity has been a top priority for the administration. The DOJ said monitors would check compliance with federal voting rights statutes, including the Voting Rights Act, the Help America Vote Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Personnel include staff from the Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney's Offices and the Office of Personnel Management. The DOJ said in an Oct. 28 court filing that FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would not serve as monitors, according to Newsweek. Employees from the Bureau of Prisons, ATF, DEA and Customs and Border Protection were included.

Judge sets conditions

The NAACP, the Advancement Project and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund filed an emergency request to block federal law enforcement from serving as poll monitors. They argued the deployment violates Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act, which bans intimidation or coercion of voters, Democracy Docket reported.

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton denied the emergency request on Nov. 2 but ordered the DOJ to ensure monitors are administrative or clerical personnel, not law enforcement officials. They must not wear uniforms, display federal agency insignia, carry firearms or have the power to make arrests, according to Democracy Docket.

During the Nov. 2 hearing, the DOJ said it would have "no problem" with those restrictions, Democracy Docket reported. Walton warned the DOJ not to make false representations to the court.

Kristen Clarke, general counsel for the NAACP, said in a statement that law enforcement agents "can have an intimidating effect on voters, especially Black voters, and they have no role and no right to be inside our polling places."

Concerns over targeting

USA Today reported that in states with competitive Senate races, monitors were assigned to cities and counties with disproportionately high Black and Hispanic populations according to U.S. Census data. The DOJ said its monitors assess compliance with federal voting rights protections.

Election authorities in at least five states restricted or challenged the federal operation, according to Newsweek. The DOJ said its personnel would follow state and local laws, observe and report possible violations, and not interfere with voters or election officials.

Massachusetts voting

Massachusetts polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. As of 7 a.m. Tuesday, more than 1.1 million votes had already been cast statewide through mail-in ballots and early voting, according to NBC Boston, citing the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth.

Voters with questions or complaints about federal voting rights can call the DOJ's election issues hotline at 1-800-253-3931.