Justice Department plans to send election monitors to polling stations in Philadelphia

Abraham Gutman, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Oct 27, 2026

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PHILADELPHIA — The U.S. Justice Department plans to send monitors to polling stations in Philadelphia and three other Pennsylvania counties for Election Day, according to a letter obtained by The Inquirer.

The Oct. 22 letter addressed to Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt says the Justice Department intends to send monitors to Philadelphia, Allegheny, Luzerne, and Lehigh Counties for the Nov. 3 general election. It does not say what led to the decision to deploy monitors, or how the counties were selected.

The monitors will follow all state and local rules, wrote James Catania, the Justice Department attorney assigned to supervise the monitors in the region. They will ensure compliance with federal voting laws, including the Voting Rights Act, National Voter Registration Act, and Americans with Disabilities Act.

“Our monitors only observe and take notes,” the letter said. “They do not intrude or interfere in any way in the voting process.”

The monitors will not be allowed to wear uniforms or pins that identify them as Justice Department staff, the letter said.

Federal monitors are not entitled to greater access to polling places than members of the general public, a Pennsylvania Department of State spokesperson said in a statement.

“The Pennsylvania Department of State expects everyone working in, voting in, and observing polling places to follow all applicable state and federal laws,” the statement said.

Joe Grace, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s spokesperson, said in a statement that Philadelphia has a strong reputation for conducting free and fair elections, and this cycle would be no different.

“Every registered voter will have every opportunity to fully exercise their constitutional right to vote,” Grace said.

The Justice Department’s letter to Schmidt was first reported by CBS 21 News in Harrisburg.

President Donald Trump’s administration announced in August a plan to deploy a record 1,000 monitors to polling places throughout the country. In comparison, while Joe Biden was president, the Justice Department deployed fewer than 400 monitors in the 2022 midterms.

Justice Department monitors were at polling places in multiple states for primary elections over the summer, and most deployments went without issue.

But in Wyoming, the state’s Republican governor, Mark Gordon, accused the observers of “aggressive” and “irregular” behavior at a polling location.

Vic Walczak, ACLU-Pennsylvania’s legal director, said he didn’t see cause for alarm by the plan to send monitors to Philadelphia and the three other Pennsylvania counties. The Biden administration sent monitors to the same counties in previous elections, he said. And if any monitor breaks the rules, Walczak said, he expected the county would take steps to eject them.

“We are not expecting that to happen,” Walczak said. “Historically it hasn’t happened.”

Federal monitors will be in all 50 states on Election Day, but the Justice Department would not share the full list of localities ahead of time, a department spokesperson said in a statement. It was not clear where in New Jersey they would be.

“All monitors must meet the same legal and ethical requirements, including that they not interfere with the voting process,” the statement said.