Justice Department Begins Notifying Counties It Wants to Monitor on Election Day, Colorado Counties on the List
The U.S. Department of Justice this week began formally notifying counties of its plan to send personnel to monitor voting on Election Day, November 3, the latest development in the department's election monitoring effort. According to NPR's report on the evening of October 21, counties in Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Texas and Washington have received notifications so far, and the list is still growing. NPR has confirmed notifications to seven counties in Texas, King County in Washington, Miami-Dade County in Florida, and Hennepin and Ramsey counties in Minnesota. The department has not yet announced the final jurisdictions or the total number it plans to monitor.
In Colorado, the county notified is Adams County. County Clerk Josh Zygielbaum said Adams County includes part of the state's competitive 8th Congressional District and he was not surprised by the selection, but he was surprised the department contacted only him and not the clerk of neighboring Weld County, which also houses part of the same district, and said his initial thought is that the move is politically motivated. DOJ spokesperson Kiersten Pels said the department prioritizes places with competitive elections, and that Adams County is covered by Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires voters be given access to election materials in the language they speak, while Weld County is not covered under that provision. Jack Todd, a spokesperson for the Colorado Secretary of State's office, said the office is considering the requests in collaboration with the Attorney General's Office; under Colorado election rules, observers need permission from the secretary of state's office unless ordered to observe by a court. Zygielbaum said his county's election processes will not change, and that he has requested a staffer from the state come to Adams County on Election Day to keep an eye on the federal monitors if they come.
For background, the Justice Department has long deployed monitors to ensure compliance with federal voting laws; under the Biden administration it monitored 64 jurisdictions in 24 states on Election Day in the last midterm year, 2022. Last month, Harmeet Dhillon, head of the department's Civil Rights Division, said the department planned to send 1,000 observers nationwide, in what she termed the largest monitoring effort in DOJ history. Pels said details on locations and numbers will be shared closer to the election. NPR also reported that in previous cycles state officials were notified at the same time as the counties, but this year states were not initially notified, and state officials have been scrambling since notifications began going out to figure out where the department plans to be; after NPR asked DOJ about it, multiple state officials said they then received notification.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，摄影师 Steven Kevil（CC BY-SA 3.0），科罗拉多州议会大厦
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