The Department of Justice listed Cobb, DeKalb and Fulton counties among the Georgia jurisdictions designated for federal election monitoring Tuesday, Nov. 3. The agency announced approximately 1,000 monitors and observers across all 50 states.
The DOJ called it the "largest monitoring effort in history," according to the department's announcement. It is the first time the agency has sent monitors to every state at once.
In Georgia, six counties were selected: Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett, Chatham and Bibb. The effort is coordinated by the Civil Rights Division and includes personnel from multiple DOJ divisions, U.S. Attorney's Offices and federal observers from the Office of Personnel Management.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division said in a statement that election integrity has been one of the top priorities for the administration and that the department is pursuing transparency in an assertive and nondiscriminatory manner.
The deployment drew pushback. Some voting rights groups, including the NAACP, said they believe the monitors could suppress turnout and disenfranchise voters, particularly minority voters, USA Today reported. USA Today also reported that in states with competitive Senate races, monitors were assigned to counties with disproportionately high Black and Hispanic populations according to U.S. Census data.
Axios reported the deployment came after courts repeatedly rejected the DOJ's efforts to force states to restrict voting for alleged noncitizens. The DOJ is also pursuing legal efforts in multiple states to have ballots segregated or otherwise affect counting, Axios reported.
The DOJ said monitors will check for compliance with federal voting rights laws, including the Voting Rights Act, the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). The agency's Disability Rights Section will also monitor compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Residents with questions or complaints about voting rights can call the DOJ's election hotline at 1-800-253-3931 or email [email protected]. ADA-related complaints can go to 1-800-514-0301.
