Federal observers set for biggest election watch since early 2000s
Justice Department plans to send monitors to watch next weeks voting in 27 states - biggest operation in two decades. Some state leaders dont agree with federal presence at polling places
The Department of Justice announced its most wide-ranging election-monitoring plan in about twenty years: federal watchers will check 86 voting places across twenty-seven states on next tuesday
The scale of monitoring shows how DOJ wants to keep an eye on possible voting problems (which could affect peoples rights to cast ballots). Attorney General Merrick Garland leads this effort to make sure voting happens without issues; his team picked places where they think watching is needed most
Some GOP-run states arent happy with the plan - they say theyʼll try to stop fed monitors from coming into voting sites. These states think its just politics‚ but thats not really true: both dem and rep governments have been doing this kind of watching for many-many years. The states position goes against long-standing practice where monitors help keep elections fair
The monitoring plan includes places with different voting rules‚ population sizes‚ and past voting issues. Federal staff will work as non-partisan observers - they dont take sides but make sure everyone follows proper voting rules
