The midterm elections are less than a week away, and precincts across the nation are in the final days of preparations.
In Georgia, millions of registered voters have yet to cast ballots as early voting comes to an end on Friday, and with voter enthusiasm high for this election, election day could be particularly busy.
There will also be some additional staff posted at some polling locations.
According to Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, as many as 1,000 Department of Justice lawyers and staff will be dispatched as poll watchers on election day, marking the largest election monitoring effort ever by the DOJ. It's also a ten-fold increase from the more than 100 poll watchers from the DOJ who were deployed during the primaries.
Dhillon
said the poll watchers will be made up of DOJ lawyers and other "trained legal staff" from the agency.
Will there be DOJ poll watchers in Georgia?
There are expected to be DOJ poll watchers in every state, but their exact precinct locations have not been released. Local jurisdictions have been alerted if they have been selected for DOJ poll watchers.
In Georgia, these poll watchers will be deployed in Bibb, Chatham, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett Counties, according to reporting from the Georgia Recorder. These counties include the metro areas of Atlanta, Macon and Savannah.
USA TODAY reached out to the Department of Justice for more information.
What do poll watchers do?
"Federal election monitors from the Department of Justice, observers I should say, are similar to other types of observers you see, so they're not going to be interfering in any way, or running the election. They're going to be observing, making notes, making sure that language accessibility is there, that disability accessibility is there, that nothing funky is happening and that people are able to vote," Dhillon said in an interview with Real America's Voice.
Dhillon said any "problems" identified during the vote would be dealt with afterwards through coordination with state agencies and officials.
Poll watchers are nothing new, but every state varies on what the legal process is to be a poll watcher or how involved they can be.
"A poll watcher is a person designated by an independent candidate, nonpartisan candidate, a political party, orpolitical body to observe at a polling place on election day or during advance voting. Poll Watchers may bepermitted behind the enclosed space for the purpose of observing the conduct of the election and the counting and recording of votes. Candidates listed on the ballot are ineligible to serve as a poll watcher in such primary, election, or runoff," according to the Georgia Secretary of State's Office.
In Georgia, poll watchers must complete a training, be clearly marked and be within a designated distance from a polling location. Each political party can have at least 25 poll watchers statewide.
Can poll watchers stop me from voting?
No, poll watchers cannot interfere with the election process.
It is illegal in Georgia to intimidate voters or election workers through actions like direct confrontation, offensive or threatening language, sharing false information about voting requirements, using physical force or the use of weapons. The effect of intimidation is illegal, no matter the intent. This also applies to all stages of the election process from mail-in voting to early voting to election day to vote counting.
All poll watchers must be known and identified by election officials in Georgia, meaning anyone attempting to intimidate any voters will be identifiable by election staff, and should be reported.
Poll watchers are also not allowed to campaign for any specific candidates, and those found violating this rule can be removed by election officials.
When can I vote?
Early voting is currently underway and will be open until Friday, Oct. 30. For specific information about your early voting location and precinct times, check the GA My Voter Page.
Election day is on Tuesday, Nov. 3. All polling locations will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. If you are already in line by 7 p.m., you will still be able to vote past the deadline.
Irene Wright covers Georgia politics as the Atlanta Connect reporter with USA TODAY’s Deep South Connect team. Find her on X @IreneEWright or email her at ismith@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DOJ to send poll watchers to Georgia counties. What will they do?
