The Justice Department is sending about 1,000 election monitors and observers to jurisdictions across all 50 states for the Nov. 3 midterm elections, calling it the largest monitoring effort in department history. Federal monitors will be checking for compliance
with voting-rights laws, while department personnel will remain in contact with state and local election officials throughout Election Day.The unprecedented nationwide deployment has drawn attention to the communities where monitors will be on the ground. The maps below show the locations identified by the Justice Department and how those areas voted in the 2024 presidential election, offering a political snapshot of the places being monitored.
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The deployment
reaches communities with sharply different political leanings, from counties that strongly backed Donald Trump in 2024 to those that overwhelmingly supported Kamala Harris.
Some voting rights groups, including the NAACP, say they believe the deployment of monitors could suppress turnout and disenfranchise voters, particularly from minority groups.
In states with some of the hardest-fought Senate contests, the election monitors were assigned to cities and counties with disproportionately high levels of Black and Hispanic residents, according to data from the U.S. Census.
Contributing: Bart Jensen, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: See where election monitors are going and how those counties voted in 2024
