The U.S. Department of Justice said it will send election monitors to Pennsylvania's Allegheny, Philadelphia, Luzerne and Lehigh counties on Election Day amid a planned nationwide deployment of monitors.

The Civil Rights Division will send election monitors who will “only observe and take notes” in the four Pennsylvania counties, the Oct. 22 letter addressed to state Secretary Al Schmidt says.

“They do not intrude or interfere in any way in the voting process,” according to the letter obtained by the Post-Gazette.

The Pennsylvania letter comes amid growing concerns of federal interference in the midterm elections. Thousands of monitors are expected to descend on polls across the country, some with the DOJ, and others with both left and right groups, according to the Associated Press.

The DOJ monitors will introduce themselves to the poll manager and present a government ID — in addition to a letter from the jurisdiction permitting entrance to the polls with the monitors’ names, if the jurisdiction wants each monitor identified, the letter says.

On Nov. 3, the monitors will be dressed in business casual clothing, without uniforms or pins identifying them with a DOJ affiliation, the letter signed by James T. Catania, trial attorney for the Civil Rights Division, says.

Monitors will be instructed to notify their jurisdiction’s team lead if they observe an election issue, who may then contact the designee for the jurisdiction, the letter states. Monitors cannot talk to voters inside the polling places and are forbidden from carrying firearms, despite open carry laws.

The letter indicates that the general purpose of the monitors is to ensure compliance with the federal voting rights statutes that fall within the jurisdiction of the Civil Rights Division.

The DOJ did not respond to a request for comment from the Post-Gazette asking why the four counties were selected. However, a spokesperson for the DOJ confirmed that election monitors will be sent to all 50 states to conduct “routine election monitoring the department has done for decades.”

“All monitors must meet the same legal and ethical requirements, including that they not interfere with the voting process,” the spokesperson said. “Every monitor has the same role: observe for potential violations of federal law and report concerns to the Department, which the Department will review after Election Day and act where appropriate.”

In a statement made in response to the letter, the Pennsylvania Department of State said it “expects everyone working in, voting in, and observing polling places to follow all applicable state and federal laws.”

“DOJ monitors are not legally entitled to any greater access to polling places than members of the general public and we encourage them to coordinate with local election offices where they will be present to ensure that their activities do not disrupt the voting process,” Matt Heckel, DOS spokesman, said in an email.

State and federal laws “strictly limit” military and law enforcement presence at polling places, he said, noting that the police officers are prohibited from being within 100 feet of a polling place, unless they are voting, serving a warrant or preventing disturbances at a polling place.

“Federal law includes similar protections and prohibits both voter intimidation and the deployment of military personnel to polling places,” he added.

Jessica Garofolo, Allegheny County Administrative Services director, said county officials are aware of the DOJ’s plans to deploy poll monitors on election day.

“These monitors are not to be confused with poll watchers, who are authorized by candidates and political parties, and credentialed by the county, and who may be stationed in a segregated area inside of the precinct’s poll,” Garofolo said.

The county will have roving staff in all precincts from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Nov. 3 “checking in throughout the day and available to be deployed to any poll within a matter of minutes,” and a legal team will be available to address issues that may arise, she said.

“For those voting in-person on election day, there should not be preventable obstacles that keep them from doing so,” she said.

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