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As millions of Americans head to polling stations to vote in the 2026 midterm elections, the US Justice Department has launched its largest-ever election monitoring exercise, deploying approximately 1,000 monitors and observers across all 50 states for the first time.
The unprecedented nationwide exercise comes amid a contentious debate over election integrity and voting access, with proposals to tighten voter identification requirements on ballots in six states and reports of voting machine disruptions in New York.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced the deployment on Election Day, saying the department was sending more than 1,000 monitors and observers to help ensure free and fair
elections.
“Happy Election Day! @CivilRights is sending 1,000+ monitors & observers to all 50 states to help ensure a free & fair election. Every American’s vote should count,” Dhillon wrote on X. She also urged voters to report any problems to local election officials or the department.
The Justice Department said the exercise was the largest monitoring effort in its history and the first time it was deploying observers in all 50 states. The operation is being coordinated by the Civil Rights Division, with personnel drawn from different DOJ divisions, US Attorney’s Offices and federal observers from the Office of Personnel Management.
Where Will The DOJ Monitor Polling?
The department said its monitors would be present in selected jurisdictions across all 50 states, rather than at every polling station.
The list includes several major population centres and politically significant areas. In Florida, monitors are assigned to Leon, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. In Georgia, the jurisdictions include Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett, Chatham and Bibb counties.
In Michigan, monitoring is planned in Lansing, East Lansing, Grand Rapids, Flint, Detroit, Hamtramck, Warren and Dearborn. The list also includes Maricopa and Pima counties in Arizona, Los Angeles, Alameda, Sacramento and San Diego in California, and Philadelphia and Allegheny counties in Pennsylvania.
In New York, the department has listed New York City, Westchester, Kings, Albany and Erie counties among the jurisdictions where it intends to monitor or observe.
The DOJ said its personnel would maintain contact with state and local election officials throughout Election Day. The monitors will check compliance with federal voting rights laws, including the Voting Rights Act, the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act.
The department’s Disability Rights Section will also oversee compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act to ensure voters with disabilities have equal access to the ballot. Its Criminal Section enforces federal laws against voter intimidation and suppression based on race, colour, national origin or religion.
Dhillon said the department was pursuing election transparency “in an assertive and nondiscriminatory manner”.
Voter ID Rules In Focus In Six States
The monitoring exercise comes as voters in six states weigh proposals to tighten identification requirements for voting.
According to MS NOW, Arizona, California, Colorado, North Carolina, Nevada and Ohio have measures that would expand identification requirements for in-person voting, mail-in ballots or both.
The proposals differ across states. Some seek to require government-issued photo identification at polling stations, while others would require voters to provide additional identifying information when submitting mail-in ballots.
Supporters argue that stricter identification rules would strengthen election security and prevent non-citizens from voting. Opponents counter that non-citizen voting is rare and that additional requirements could create hurdles for eligible voters, particularly those on low incomes who may not have the necessary identification.
The debate has become a national political flashpoint as the Trump administration pushes for stricter federal voting standards, including mandatory voter identification, restrictions on mail-in ballots and proof-of-citizenship requirements.
Voting Machine Glitch Reported In New York’s Westchester County
Meanwhile, a voting machine problem was reported in Westchester County, New York, on Election Day, MS NOW reported.
A Westchester County Board of Elections official confirmed to the network that the county was experiencing an issue with its voting machines. While officials worked to resolve the problem, voters continued filling out their ballots and placing them in secure orange bags, the official said.
The cause of the malfunction and how long the machines were expected to remain offline were not immediately clear. It was also uncertain whether officials would extend voting hours if the disruption continued.
Polling stations in New York opened at 6 am ET and were scheduled to remain open until 9 pm ET.
