Federal judge orders DOJ to ensure poll monitors are not law enforcement officials

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A federal judge denied the NAACP’s request to block the Justice Department from sending election monitors to polling places, but ordered the department to ensure they are not sworn law enforcement officers and cannot make arrests.

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, in an order Monday night, said the DOJ must also ensure its monitors are unarmed, out of uniform and do not display insignia identifying them as federal employees. The order applies to the department’s poll monitoring program for Election Day, Nov. 3.

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A Washington, D.C., judge ruled the Justice Department's 1,000 poll monitors can move forward but they cannot be armed or able to make arrests. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)

"The Court is therefore unpersuaded by the plaintiffs' assertion that a person who is simply 'project[ing a] command[ing] presence, scan[ning] crowds, and more" – without any outward indications of law enforcement authority – would generate objectively reasonable fear in a voter," according to Walton, who was nominated to the Washington, D.C., court by former President George W. Bush. "Thus, the Court finds that in conjunction with the defendants’ public statements regarding voter fraud and election integrity, the deployment of these individuals as election monitors would not place the average voter 'in reasonable fear of harassment and interference with their right to vote.'"

The NAACP had sought a temporary restraining order barring the DOJ from deploying personnel from agencies including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Prisons. The group argued their presence could intimidate voters and violate the Voting Rights Act.

Walton denied the motion without prejudice, finding that the current record did not show the NAACP was likely to succeed on its claim. He said the DOJ’s representations at a hearing addressed his concerns: the monitors would be administrative or clerical employees, not sworn officers, and would not carry firearms.

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"The Court will order that the defendants comply with their counsel’s concession that they will take action to ensure that the monitors participating in the DOJ’s Poll Monitoring Program are indeed administrative or clerical personnel and not law enforcement officials, will not be in uniform or display any other insignia indicating their affiliation with a federal agency, will not be armed with a firearm, and will not have the power to effectuate arrests," Walton wrote.

Walton also ordered monitors not to interfere with voters or election officials, to follow state and local rules, and to avoid speaking with voters inside polling places. They may speak with voters outside only after they have cast a ballot. Monitors must introduce themselves to election officials and carry federal credentials in case they are asked to verify their employment.

Walton ordered the DOJ to file a status report by 7 a.m. ET on Tuesday explaining how it confirmed that none of the monitors would be law enforcement officials with arrest powers.

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The ruling followed allegations that the DOJ planned to send more than 1,000 personnel, including law enforcement agents and investigators, to polling locations. The department’s attorneys told the court that sworn agents and officers would be excluded from the program.

Fox News’ Jake Gibson contributed to this report.

Eric Mack is a breaking news reporter and writer Sunday through Thursday, 6 a.m. ET to 2 p.m. ET, with a particular interest in stories that lead the news cycle on politics, elections, foreign affairs and government.