DOJ to Deploy Election Monitors in Charlottesville and Across Virginia

Charlottesville will receive four of the 1,000 election monitors that the U.S. Department of Justice announced it will send across the country in the agency’s largest-ever monitoring effort.

Mirroring past elections, the DOJ has indicated that its personnel will focus strictly on observation rather than interfering with voting. They will operate in plain clothes and work in teams of two, traveling to various polling locations throughout the day, according to Charlottesville Registrar Taylor Yowell.

“We use the term ‘authorized representatives’ inside the polling place,” Yowell said. “They’re trained to make sure that the election officials that are working and operating the election are doing things correctly.” Election monitoring is a common feature of American elections, including in Charlottesville. “We have two up front right now,” Yowell noted on Friday afternoon.

State Rules and the Expanding Federal Presence

Depending on the preferences of a locality’s electoral board or registrar, Virginia regulations permit neutral observers within polling sites. In Yowell’s experience, people who ask to be neutral observers come from civic groups, political parties, and candidate representatives to ensure compliance with the Civil Rights Act or the Americans with Disabilities Act.

🗳️ DOJ poll monitors will be in Charlottesville, Fairfax County, Virginia BeachDemocrats have lied so often about Trump & @CivilRights that the Virginia NAACP is worried people will be prevented from votinghttps://t.co/3MPoaROfQH pic.twitter.com/W3B969m73s

— https://x.com/CvilleBubble/status/2117014466189816236

Because monitoring happens so frequently, the state has regulations on how monitors must behave. Observers are not able to talk to voters or election officials inside the polling place, with the sole exception of the chief election officer. If they do not adhere to these specific guidelines set forth by the state, they would be asked to leave.

While the DOJ sends out monitors for most elections and has called this year’s plan “routine,” the agency’s plan to deploy 1,000 monitors to all 50 states is significantly more than in prior years. During the 2022 midterms, for comparison, the Biden administration sent out 388 monitors, according to reporting by PBS.

In Virginia, the DOJ sought permission to monitor Fairfax County, Virginia Beach, Charlottesville, and Prince William County. Each locality tends to lean Democratic, though Virginia Beach can occasionally oscillate between Democratic and Republican victories. In the 2024 presidential election, 83% of Charlottesville voters chose Kamala Harris, compared with 65% in Fairfax, 57% in Prince William, and just over 50% in Virginia Beach.

“Requests to monitor were submitted to each locality, as it is the decision of election officials in those localities whether to permit monitors in polling locations,” a Virginia Department of Elections spokesperson said in an email. The agency pointed out that the DOJ had given advance notice of these visits, acknowledged the specific rules and boundaries for monitors under Virginia law, and confirmed that all monitors would receive training on those regulations and pledge to follow them.

Pushback and Local Preparation

Beyond the sheer scale of the deployment, concerns have been raised. Last summer, Trump urged Texas to redraw congressional maps mid-decade, and throughout the last year pushed for changes to federal voter ID requirements and mail-in ballot laws, though those efforts were blocked by the courts. In recent weeks, the DOJ filed a lawsuit in Alaska in an attempt to block the certification of the Senate race due to potential candidate name confusion, and requested that California stop processing more than 20,000 ballots identified as likely coming from noncitizen voters.

Va fairfax county vector map green frank ramspott

Citing the need to prevent “inappropriate federal intervention,” Prince William County General Registrar Eric Olsen refused to grant DOJ monitors entry to polling sites in his jurisdiction, as reported by the Prince William Times.

In central Virginia’s rural counties, registrars reported receiving no formal notice of federal observers and do not anticipate their presence, though they remain prepared. Nelson County Registrar Jackie Harris previously worked as a registrar for Fairfax County and as an international election observer. Her office will follow standard protocols if federal or other observers show up.

Justice Department to deploy election monitors for mid-terms

It’s basically an observation role.
— Patricia Morton, General Registrar for Appomattox County

Harris noted that her office has prepared identification lanyards and guidance for authorized representatives. Observers are prohibited from viewing private voter information or disrupting check-ins, and firearms are banned within 100 feet of polling locations under state law, with limited exceptions for law enforcement. According to a court filing, federal election monitors will not act as law enforcement, are trained not to interfere, and will not be allowed to carry firearms. FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel will not serve as monitors.

Jennifer Lewis-Fowler, who directs elections in Greene County, stated that polling stations in her district are not expected to see any ICE personnel, notwithstanding the county’s current 287(g) partnership. Registrars in Orange, Madison, Louisa, Buckingham, and Prince Edward counties also confirmed they received no requests for federal monitors and have established communication channels with local law enforcement.

If voters encounter issues on Election Day, they are encouraged to speak directly with the chief officer of election at their polling location. For unresolved problems, the Election Protection hotline can be reached in English at 866-OUR-VOTE, in Spanish at 888-VE-Y-VOTA, for Asian languages at 888-API-VOTE, and in Arabic at 844-YALLA-US.