The U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) election observation program — once a behind-the-scenes effort with a record of nonpartisan success — has made headlines during the 2026 midterm primaries because of conduct that state officials have called “dangerous” and “irregular.”
In Wyoming, monitors improperly sought to access voting machines, while in Minnesota, the DOJ deployed an attorney monitor who was previously convicted of hacking into state and local election websites, raising concerns about whether the monitors will act in a neutral nonpartisan manner.
This conduct, combined with Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon’s promise to deploy as many as 1,000 monitors during the 2026 general election, has raised understandable questions about the scope of the DOJ’s election monitor program, and what guardrails exist to protect voters and election workers.
Below are some key details Americans should know about DOJ observers, including the fact that safeguards do exist to protect voters, and that Congress must still strengthen those rules to secure our elections.
Who are these observers?
Originally, the executive branch’s election observation program was a crucial component of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA).
This landmark legislation sought to eliminate racial discrimination in our elections and put an end to nearly a century of violence, intimidation, and state-sponsored voting barriers that had made the guarantee of equal access to the ballot largely illusory for people of color.
Because these barriers were often imposed by the same local officials charged with administering elections, Congress established a federal election observer program, authorizing employees of the federal government to enter polling places and other election administration facilities to document voting discrimination firsthand.
Until the mid-2010s, the majority of the observers from the executive branch were employees of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), who were deployed in states and localities with documented histories of discrimination that subjected them to heightened federal protections under the VRA. Congress repeatedly recognized the program’s success in preventing intimidation of voters of color.
Unfortunately, the 2013 Supreme Court case Shelby County v. Holder upended this program and severely limited the DOJ’s ability to deploy observers under the VRA, forcing the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division to turn to its own attorneys for continued election monitoring. These DOJ attorney monitors represent the majority of election observers the executive branch deploys today.
What can (and can’t) DOJ monitors do?
Because DOJ attorney monitors are not clearly authorized by any federal statute — unlike the observer program created by the VRA — their authority to observe elections can be somewhat unclear.
The DOJ generally relies on a lack of objection by state and local officials to give its attorney monitors permission to enter polling places, but the ambiguity surrounding the program means state and local officials are usually unsure if they can deny them that permission.
All election observers from the federal government are subject to important constraints under existing law. Since they are federal employees, these monitors are prohibited under the Hatch Act from engaging in political activity while on duty, and from using their official position to interfere with or affect the results of an election.
Federal law that prevents voter intimidation also applies to election observers. This means that these observers cannot intimidate, threaten or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce anybody who is voting, attempting to vote, or helping another person vote or attempt to vote.
DOJ monitors also have to follow state laws that regulate private election observers, including ones that require observers to remain outside of polling places.
Simply put, these election observers are only allowed to observe the election and document any perceived violations of federal voting laws.
How can Congress regulate the program?
There are currently very few legal restrictions on the DOJ attorney monitor program.
Congress has the power to pass a law to ensure that the executive branch’s observers can continue their important mission of documenting compliance with federal law, while operating under clear and accountable rules.
This legislation should:
- Define the legal authority and limits of DOJ monitors who currently operate without explicit legal authorization. This includes clarifying that DOJ monitors can only observe and document perceived violations of federal voting laws. They are not allowed to intervene.
- Create a clear process for the removal of federal observers who attempt to intimidate voters or disrupt election administration.
- Require the DOJ to provide advanced notice to state and local officials and the public about where monitors will be sent, and who they are.
- Create an enforceable code of conduct for all executive branch monitors, including requiring monitors to identify themselves, prohibiting them from interfering to address any perceived violations of federal law, and barring them from interacting with voters before they cast a ballot.
- Establish a private right of action to sue election observers who violate the Hatch Act while performing their official election observer duties.
- Mandate transparency regarding the DOJ’s deployment decisions and post-election reporting, and require monitor training to explain responsibilities, legal limitations and the code of conduct.
Our democracy cannot work unless every eligible voter can make their voice heard. Congress has the opportunity and the duty to pass legislation to protect voters who are casting their ballot in person.
What can voters expect in the 2026 midterms election?
While there has been reporting of DOJ monitors exhibiting irregular conduct, voters should remember that they are protected under federal law from voter intimidation — including from federal observers — and they have a right to cast their ballot safely and securely.
If voters observe irregular behavior at their local polling place, they can contact the nonpartisan Election Protection Hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE (866-867-8683).
Even in the face of an administration that has tried time and time again to exert undue control over elections, voters can be assured that we have safeguards and systems in place to ensure their vote is protected.
Even without regulations, existing federal law prevents election monitors from threatening voters or interfering with election results. And new federal legislation would help to ensure that the DOJ observers program can function as it was intended to under the Voting Rights Act: ensuring that every American can exercise their freedom to vote.
Read Campaign Legal Center’s full report on DOJ election monitors and policy recommendations to protect voters.