Follow-Up: DOJ Filing Says FBI and ICE Personnel Will Not Serve as Midterm Poll Monitors; Monitors Unarmed and Observe Only
The U.S. Department of Justice said in a court filing late on Wednesday, October 28, that agents and employees of the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement will not serve as monitors during this year's midterm elections, Reuters reported. Election monitors will not act as law enforcement personnel while monitoring; they will mainly observe polling places, take notes, and will be prohibited from carrying firearms, the filing said.
The filing was made in the federal case brought by the NAACP, which sued to bar prosecutors and other law enforcement personnel from serving as monitors, arguing that the Trump administration's plan to send about 1,000 federal monitors to polling places nationwide amounts to voter intimidation. GSM reported the lawsuit on October 18 and the Justice Department's monitor plans on October 21 and 22; this week's filing is a new development in that case.
The department said monitors have been trained not to interfere in voting and to follow state and local rules, consistent with past practice. Employees of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Drug Enforcement Administration will still serve as monitors; only FBI and ICE personnel are excluded.
The Trump administration has pressed states for voter-registration data and argued stricter oversight is needed to ensure public confidence in the vote. Some state and local officials told Reuters this month they are preparing for potential federal interference in the midterm elections, which take place next week.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：选民走向投票站（资料图，2020年11月3日摄于明尼苏达州 St Paul）。Lorie Shaull 摄，CC BY-SA 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / File photo: Voters walk to a polling place in St Paul, Minnesota, on November 3, 2020. By Lorie Shaull, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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