Two of the three counties where Katy-area residents vote will have federal election monitors at the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it is sending approximately 1,000 monitors and observers to jurisdictions in all 50 states, calling it the largest monitoring effort in the department's history. It is the first time the DOJ has monitored elections in every state.
Harris County and Waller County are both on the DOJ's list of monitored Texas jurisdictions. Fort Bend County is not on the list. The other Texas counties receiving monitors are Bexar, Dallas, Blanco, Bowie and Nueces.
What the monitors will do
The monitors will check for compliance with federal voting rights laws, according to the DOJ. The effort is coordinated by the department's Civil Rights Division.
The division's Voting Section enforces the Voting Rights Act, the Help America Vote Act and other federal voting statutes. A separate Disability Rights Section enforces the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) at polling places. The Criminal Section enforces federal laws against voter intimidation and suppression based on race, color, national origin or religion.
Monitors will include personnel from the Civil Rights Division, other DOJ components, U.S. Attorney's Offices and federal observers from the Office of Personnel Management. Division staff will stay in contact with state and local election officials throughout the day, the DOJ stated.
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 the division.
Concerns from voting-rights groups
The deployment has drawn pushback. Some voting-rights groups, including the NAACP, say they believe the monitors could suppress turnout and discourage voters, particularly from minority communities, USA Today reported.
Some local election officials have also raised concerns that a large wave of observers could intimidate voters, Axios reported.
USA Today reported that in states with competitive Senate races, monitors were assigned to cities and counties with higher-than-average Black and Hispanic populations according to U.S. Census data. In Texas, the monitored counties include Bexar, which is 60% Hispanic, and Harris, which is 46% Hispanic. Waller County's population is about 25% Black, above the state average, according to the report.
The DOJ's announcement comes after courts turned back the department's efforts to force states to restrict voting by alleged noncitizens, Axios reported.
What Katy-area voters should know
The DOJ did not specify which individual polling locations within Harris or Waller counties will have monitors present.
Voters with questions or complaints about federal voting rights can call the DOJ's election hotline at 1-800-253-3931 or email [email protected]. ADA-related concerns can be directed to 1-800-514-0301.
The DOJ stated that complaints about disruptions at a polling place should first go to local election officials on-site. Threats or violence should be reported to local police by calling 911, then to the department.
