Harmeet Dhillon / X/ Harmeet Dhillon
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet K. Dhillon announced that the U.S. Department of Justice will deploy election monitors to 15 jurisdictions across six states during upcoming primary elections.
The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division will send monitors to jurisdictions in Arizona, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Virginia.
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In a post on X, Dhillon encouraged voters to participate in the elections, writing, "Get to the polls–you never know who you'll see from @CivilRights Division monitoring an election near you!"
15 jurisdictions in AZ, MA, MI, MN, NH, and VA were sent monitors from @TheJusticeDept for the upcoming primaries. Get to the polls—you never know who you’ll see from @CivilRights Division monitoring an election near you! pic.twitter.com/td5wSTTLmD
— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) July 10, 2026
In a video accompanying the announcement, Dhillon said the jurisdictions were selected because of "some specific incidents" that warranted federal monitoring, though she did not elaborate on the nature of those incidents.
She compared the deployment with election monitoring efforts under the Biden administration, saying the Justice Department sent monitors to nine jurisdictions during the 2022 primary elections and to 27 jurisdictions during the 2024 primary elections, excluding special elections and runoff contests.
"We're sending actual DOJ Civil Rights lawyers," Dhillon said. "They're trained in election law. They're trained in observing these types of things."
Dhillon also suggested she could personally take part in the monitoring effort. "Who knows, you may even see me at the polls somewhere monitoring the elections
The announcement comes as the Trump administration has increased its focus on election administration ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. In recent months, the Justice Department has pursued legal action involving voter registration records and voter roll maintenance, arguing that states must comply with federal election laws.
The expanded monitoring effort has already drawn scrutiny in some states. In Michigan, the Justice Department plans to send monitors to Detroit, Lansing, and East Lansing during the Aug. 4 primary. State Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson have questioned the rationale for the deployment while acknowledging that federal election monitoring is authorized under law.
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