The Justice Department announced Tuesday that it will be monitoring two polling sites in New Hampshire during the state’s primary election, according to a press release from the department.
Monitoring is taking place in two New Hampshire cities — Manchester and Nashua — and the announcement comes as the Justice Department ratchets up efforts to send federal election monitors to polling locations across the country.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon announced last month she would be deploying 1,000 DOJ staffers from the Civil Rights Division to monitor elections around the country. Dhillon said sending monitors for Tuesday’s primary election in New Hampshire would be the last action before the November midterm elections.
“The Department of Justice is continuing its monitoring efforts all the way through primary season,” Dhillon said in a statement. “This is the last week before the Division begins ramping up preparations for midterm election monitoring, which will help ensure trust and transparency throughout the country.”
The Justice Department said that four election monitors will be present in each city.
In the past few weeks, the DOJ also implemented election monitoring in several other states during primaries, including South Carolina, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Florida and Wyoming.
Dhillon described the effort to Bloomberg News last month as “something that DOJ does.”
U.S. Attorney for New Hampshire Erin Creegan issued a statement ahead of the state’s primary election, saying the state was “proud” to partner with the Civil Rights Division on election integrity and election monitoring.
“New Hampshire’s elections, including our critical First-in-the-Nation Primary, deserve to instill the highest possible confidence,” Creegan said in a statement. “My office will continue bringing together state and federal partners to ensure that Granite State elections are free, fair, and in accordance with all applicable laws.”
The DOJ website describes two types of election monitors: Justice Department Personnel and Federal Observers.
Justice Department personnel are sent to polling locations, “to monitor polling places on election day to help assess compliance with the federal voting rights laws around the country, including, for example, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Help America Vote Act,” according to the Justice Department website. These monitors are typically attorneys or staff of the Justice Department.
DOJ personnel sent to monitor elections are ensuring that federal voting rights laws are followed on Election Day and maintaining relationships with state and local election officials, according to the Justice Department website.
The second type of monitors are Federal Observers who are appointed by federal court orders. These monitors are then supervised and trained by the Office of Personnel Management. Only four jurisdictions currently have orders allowing this type of federal monitoring: Alaska, Louisiana, New Jersey and Rhode Island.
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