The Department of Justice will deploy federal election observers to monitor sites in Tuesday's elections in California and New Jersey. This would usually be seen as a routine mission from the department's Civil Rights Division, which is tasked with ensuring federal election laws are followed across the country. But the precise areas of deployment, the absence of clear federal authority to oversee these specific races and the questionable pretext for their deployment all set a disturbing precedent that will likely expand during next year’s midterm elections.
In late October, Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement that the election monitors are necessary to "to ensure the American people get the fair, free, and transparent elections they deserve." The Justice Department staffers in question will be headed to five counties in California, including Los Angeles County, and one county in New Jersey. According to the DOJ's release, the staffers will facilitate "an open flow of communication between poll observers and election monitors to ensure that elections proceed with a high degree of security."
But under the Constitution, states are charged with conducting elections, with federal laws only rarely superseding that authority. The two states where DOJ observers will be present don't have elections with any federal component that would invite Bondi's intervention.
This is a preview of Hayes Brown's latest column. Read the full column here.
|
