On Tuesday, Nov. 3, the U.S. Department of Justice said it was deploying about 1,000 election monitors and observers across all 50 states, the largest monitoring effort in agency history.

St. Johns County is not named on the DOJ's list. In Florida, the department listed five counties: Leon, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, according to its announcement: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/doj-monitor-elections-all-50-states-first-time

The operation represents a sharp increase. The DOJ deployed 289 monitors for the 2022 midterms and 714 for the 2024 presidential election, according to Newsweek. Tuesday's deployment is the first time the program has covered all 50 states.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division said in a statement that she is "very proud we are deploying the largest monitoring effort in DOJ history, and pursuing transparency for elections in an assertive and nondiscriminatory manner."

The monitors will check whether jurisdictions comply with federal voting rights laws, including the Voting Rights Act, the Help America Vote Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Personnel come from the Civil Rights Division, other DOJ components, U.S. attorneys' offices and the Office of Personnel Management.

Concerns from voting rights groups

The NAACP sued to challenge the deployment, arguing it could intimidate voters. In its lawsuit, the organization said the DOJ's focus on alleged voter fraud, combined with the first-time use of criminal prosecutors as monitors, could make voters fear "wrongful surveillance, investigation, or prosecution," USA Today reported.

USA Today reported that in states with competitive Senate races, the DOJ assigned monitors to cities and counties with disproportionately high Black and Hispanic populations, according to U.S. Census data.

Kristen Clarke, NAACP general counsel and a former assistant attorney general for civil rights, told Newsweek that monitors "are not able to speak with voters inside polling places, and they cannot interfere with election officials."

On Monday, Nov. 2, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton denied the NAACP's emergency request to block the monitors and ordered the DOJ to ensure they are administrative or clerical personnel, not sworn law enforcement officers. The order requires monitors to be unarmed, out of uniform and without visible federal insignia or arrest authority. They may not interfere with voters or election officials, speak with voters inside polling places, or violate state and local rules. The DOJ told the court that FBI and ICE employees would not serve as monitors. (Court order: https://www.justsecurity.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/naacp-v-blanch-order-nov-2-2026.pdf)

Local picture

In an Oct. 5 WOKV interview about general election preparations, St. Johns County Supervisor of Elections Vicky Oakes, along with the Duval and Clay supervisors, said ICE would not be at their counties' polling places. They said citizenship is checked at voter registration, not at the polls. The interview predated the DOJ's Nov. 3 monitoring announcement and was not a comment on this deployment. Source: https://www.wokv.com/news/local/what-northeast-florida-voters-need-know-2026-election/B27MP5ZI3FDODF7IRYI6H2FDVQ/

DOJ spokeswoman Kiersten Pels said the department prioritizes jurisdictions required to provide language assistance, areas lacking election observation data and places under consent decrees from previous election problems, Yahoo News reported.

Voters with questions or complaints about federal voting rights can call the DOJ's election hotline at 1-800-253-3931 or email [email protected]. ADA-related concerns can be directed to 1-800-514-0301.