Justice Department to send election monitors to Utah for Nov. 3 midterms

The U.S. Department of Justice is sending election monitors to Utah ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson announced on social media, KUER reported. Henderson said her office was notified the monitors are coming but that there is "no indication of where or how many." ^[1]

Henderson wrote that the monitors must follow Utah's poll watcher laws, will not wear identifying badges or insignia, will identify themselves to poll workers, will not contact voters and will not be armed. "They're not allowed to interfere in any way," she said. ^[1]

Under state law, poll watchers can observe nearly every part of the voting process, including voter check-in, ballot transport and counting. They may not interfere, except to challenge a voter's eligibility, or record information that could violate the secret ballot or reveal counts before the county clerk does. The felony penalty applies to divulging vote counts before the election officer makes them public and to divulging candidate-petition signature information. ^[2]

KUER reported that NPR reporting indicates at least Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Texas and Washington will also have federal monitors, and noted that it is not unusual for the Justice Department to monitor elections. It also reported that Henderson, who has defended Utah's almost entirely mail-in election system, has clashed with the Trump administration over requests for voter rolls and an executive order on vote-by-mail, both of which courts have halted for now, and that she is the subject of a Justice Department investigation. ^[1]