Federal election monitors fanned out across Fairfax County on Tuesday, Nov. 3, part of a Department of Justice (DOJ) deployment that put approximately 1,000 monitors and observers at polling places in all 50 states for the first time.

Fairfax is one of four Virginia jurisdictions on the DOJ's list, along with Prince William County, Charlottesville and Virginia Beach, according to the Virginia Mercury. The DOJ did not specify how many monitors would be assigned to Virginia or to individual polling locations.

The effort is more than triple the nearly 300 federal monitors the Biden administration sent to 24 states during the 2022 midterms and exceeds the 700 dispatched for the 2024 presidential election, according to the Virginian-Pilot.

"I am very proud we are deploying the largest monitoring effort in DOJ history, and pursuing transparency for elections in an assertive and nondiscriminatory manner," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division said in a DOJ statement.

The monitors are checking compliance with federal voting rights statutes, including protections against voter intimidation and discrimination and requirements for voters with disabilities, according to the DOJ.

Local response split

The deployment drew mixed reactions across Virginia. Prince William County elections director Eric Olsen denied federal monitors entry to polling places in an Oct. 26 message to the DOJ, citing a state law that gives general registrars authority over neutral observers inside precincts, VPM reported.

"People that work in civil rights law should know there's a chilling effect," Olsen told the Prince William Times. "Our voters should be able to go out and enjoy the voting process and not be worried about it."

Virginia Beach's Electoral Board voted 3-0 to deny inside access as well, according to the Virginian-Pilot. Charlottesville agreed to let monitors inside its polling stations.

The DOJ said it would still send monitors to observe from outside the 40-foot perimeter around polling place entrances where they were denied inside access.

Virginia Elections Commissioner Steve Koski told the Virginia Mercury that state and local officials had prepared for the deployment. He said DOJ monitors must follow the same state rules as neutral observers.

Voting rights groups raise concerns

The NAACP and other voting rights groups said they believe the deployment could suppress turnout, according to USA Today. NAACP senior general counsel Anthony Ashton told the Virginian-Pilot that the organization once welcomed DOJ monitors but now questions the department's motives.

"Unfortunately, this is not the same Department of Justice as there was a few years ago," Ashton said.

In states with closely contested Senate races, monitors were assigned to cities and counties with disproportionately high levels of Black and Hispanic residents, according to U.S. Census data cited by USA Today.

State Sen. Creigh Deeds (D-Charlottesville) told VPM that he was not surprised monitors were sent to Democratic-leaning areas. "The federal government's motive is to intimidate," Deeds said.

The Fairfax County Republican Committee took a different view. Chair Katie Gorka said the party "welcomes the presence of election monitors" and that the committee had flagged concerns about potential noncitizen voting for years, according to FFXnow.

Voters with questions or complaints about federal voting rights can call the DOJ's hotline at 1-800-253-3931. Fairfax County polls close at 7 p.m.