Two election monitors from the U.S. Department of Justice will be at Omaha-area polling places on Tuesday, the Douglas County Election Commission confirmed.
The Nebraska deployment is part of a larger nationwide push to send 1,000 election monitors to all 50 states. DOJ monitors are not a new phenomenon – hundreds of monitors were deployed during the 2022 midterms, and Douglas County has had monitors in the past “without issues,” the commission said.
Douglas County Election Commission public relations coordinator Valerie Stoj declined to share the location or locations where the monitors will be stationed “in order to ensure our poll workers do not have any additional distractions.”
DOJ monitors are expected to observe the election and document any perceived federal law violations but are not allowed to interfere with voting or attempt to influence voters. Monitors are typically attorneys with the department, but court filings indicate this year’s monitors will include employees of the Federal Bureau of Prisons; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
No employees or agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will serve as monitors, according to court records.
Lancaster County Election Commissioner Todd Wiltgen said Wednesday that he had not been made aware of any DOJ monitors being deployed to the county.
Justice Department monitors were sent to Nebraska as recently as 2014, when federal observers were assigned to Colfax County to ensure compliance with a 2012 court order requiring the county to provide election materials in Spanish. DOJ personnel also “monitored polling place activities” in Douglas County that year.
Election officials in surrounding states have been notified of DOJ monitors. In Iowa and Kansas, the secretaries of state confirmed that monitors will be present but did not share where they will be located or how many there will be.
This is a developing story.
Reporter Maddie Ames contributed to this report.