The U.S. Department of Justice deployed approximately 1,000 election monitors across all 50 states on Tuesday, Nov. 3, in what the agency called its largest monitoring operation ever. Cook County is one of six Illinois jurisdictions on the list.

Evanston falls within Cook County for election administration. The city clerk's office works with the Cook County Clerk's Election Division to set up polling places and manage voter registration. The DOJ's list names both "Chicago" and "Cook" as separate Illinois monitoring jurisdictions, but the agency did not specify which polling locations within Cook County monitors would visit.

The other Illinois jurisdictions listed are Champaign, Sangamon, St. Clair and Madison counties, according to the DOJ announcement.

The effort is coordinated by the DOJ's Civil Rights Division. Monitors include personnel from the division, other DOJ components, U.S. Attorney's Offices and federal observers from the Office of Personnel Management, the agency said.

In an Oct. 28 court filing, the DOJ clarified that FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel would not serve as monitors, Newsweek reported. Monitors will not carry firearms or exercise law enforcement authority, according to court documents cited by Newsweek.

What monitors can and cannot do

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul issued a statement ahead of the election saying DOJ monitors cannot interfere with election administration in any way, according to Patch.

Raoul said monitors must present credentials when entering polling places and follow the instructions of election judges. They cannot inspect, touch or seize ballots or voting equipment, decide which votes are counted, or interfere with election administration, according to his statement. Monitors can only interact with voters who consent.

Raoul said he had been in contact with the DOJ and had no reason to believe monitors would act inconsistently with traditional monitoring efforts.

Scale is new, practice is not

The DOJ has sent election monitors since the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the agency said. What changed this year is the scale and geographic reach. Newsweek reported that 289 monitors were deployed for the 2022 midterms and 714 for the 2024 presidential election.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division said in a statement that the deployment pursues "transparency for elections in an assertive and nondiscriminatory manner."

DOJ spokeswoman Kiersten Pels said the department prioritizes jurisdictions required to provide language assistance and areas lacking election observation data, USA Today reported. Monitors are trained on state and local laws and authorized only to observe, document and report on compliance with federal voting laws, Pels said.

Concerns from voting rights groups

The NAACP sued to stop the monitoring program, arguing it amounts to voter intimidation, USA Today reported. The organization alleged in its lawsuit that the DOJ lacks authority to enforce state and county-level voting rules, including verifying voter citizenship.

Some voting rights groups say the deployment could suppress turnout, particularly among minority voters, USA Today reported. In states with closely contested Senate races, monitors were assigned to cities and counties with disproportionately high Black and Hispanic populations, according to U.S. Census data cited by USA Today.

Election authorities in at least five states have restricted, challenged or prepared additional oversight of the federal operation, Newsweek reported. The DOJ has maintained its personnel will follow state and local laws and not interfere with voters or election officials.

Evanston voters with questions or complaints about federal voting rights can call the DOJ's election hotline at 1-800-253-3931.