DOJ tells the court its monitoring follows decades of past practice
United States Department of JusticeEric Neff, acting chief of the Civil Rights Division's Voting Section, in a sworn court declaration
In a sworn declaration, the acting chief of DOJ's Voting Section says this year's monitoring follows the methods and purposes of past election cycles. The same declaration says employees of the Bureau of Prisons, ATF and DEA will serve as unarmed monitors and that no FBI or ICE employees will.
Responding to
DOJ's expanded nationwide election-monitoring deployment is justified as routine enforcement of federal election law.
“The Voting Section is conducting its election monitoring efforts in a similar manner and for similar purposes as in past election cycles going back decades.”
Original text
Where this statement fits
Should DOJ send election monitors to all 50 states?
Attorney General Todd Blanche says DOJ will send election monitors to every state for the 2026 midterms. Harmeet Dhillon describes trained legal professionals observing and documenting voting. The NAACP argues that the expanded deployment risks intimidation and lacks a clear public explanation of its authority. Its October 2 lawsuit seeks records about the program, including personnel, training, locations and state consent.
Source and context
Original text
About this source
Sworn declaration by the acting chief of DOJ's Voting Section, filed as an attachment to the parties' October 28 joint status report in the NAACP's records lawsuit. It describes who will serve as monitors, their training and conduct rules, and why DOJ says it will not produce a full list of locations before Election Day.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Neff filed the declaration with the parties' October 28 joint status report in NAACP v. Dhillon, the NAACP's lawsuit seeking records about the monitoring program. He says he makes it in connection with the NAACP's records request.
After the quotation
Neff says the Civil Rights Division trains monitors not to carry firearms or wear identifying clothing, and that employees of the Bureau of Prisons, ATF and DEA will serve as monitors without acting as law enforcement. He says no FBI or ICE employees will be among them.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Relative to DOJ's plan to send election monitors to every state, the declaration describes the deployment as a continuation of past practice and sets limits on what monitors may do, which defends the plan.
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The Dispute Index. "DOJ tells the court its monitoring follows decades of past practice". First published: 2026-10-30. Last updated: 2026-10-30. https://disputeindex.com/events/7221-in-a-sworn-declaration-the-acting-chief-of