State election officials and voting rights advocates are questioning the Trump administration’s decision to send monitors to polling stations in Marion and Lake counties on Election Day.
Lake and Marion are the only two Indiana counties publicly identified for U.S. Justice Department federal monitoring during the Nov. 3 midterm election. Both counties are Democratic strongholds with large Black populations. Federal officials have not explained why they selected those two counties.
The Indiana Election Division confirmed to Capital B Gary that it received notice of the federal government’s plans Wednesday, Oct. 21, but is still seeking details about what the monitoring operation might involve.
“We are meeting with them to understand the DOJ process and plans. After we do, our office will determine next steps,” the agency said in an email.
The division said Justice Department officials contacted Marion County but, to its knowledge, had not yet reached Lake County as of Friday afternoon.
However, in a statement Monday, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita welcomed the deployment.
“As Indiana’s Attorney General and former Secretary of State who led the effort that made Indiana the first state in the nation to enact a photo voter ID law, I want every election to be secure and run as effectively as possible so Hoosiers can feel confident that their votes count and the results are accurate, fair, and legitimate.
“To help make that happen, I welcome the Department of Justice sending election monitors into Indiana on November 3,” he wrote.
The Justice Department described its monitoring program as a long-standing practice intended to ensure compliance with federal voting laws. In a statement reported by WFYI in Indianapolis, the department said monitors are expected to observe potential violations of federal law and report their findings without interfering with voters casting their ballots.
In announcements during the past two years, the DOJ has rarely said why it picked particular places for monitoring. Statements regarding for primary monitoring in Minnesota and Massachusetts, and for the 2025 general elections in California and New Jersey, say the monitors show up to “ensure transparency, ballot security, and compliance with federal law,” but none explain why specific counties or cities were chosen.
The Justice Department has monitored elections under both parties for decades, sending nearly 300 observers nationwide in the 2022 midterms and more than 700 in 2024. The 1,000 that were announced this summer would outpace most recent election cycles.
Lake County Democrats say they expect federal monitors to respect the authority of state and local election officials but are prepared to challenge any interference with voting.
“We do not expect any problems,” Lake County Democratic Party Chairman Michael Repay said in a statement. “We expect all monitors to follow the rules and limitations outlined in their notice and to respect the authority of Indiana and Lake County officials.”
Julia Vaughn, policy director of Common Cause Indiana, warned that the presence of federal monitors can create a chilling effect on voters.
“I think everyone is alarmed this year simply because the administration has been signaling for months now their intention to use federal officials to, I would characterize as, intimidate voters,” Vaughn told Capital B Gary. “I don’t think they’re here to help. I don’t think that’s the intent.”
Federal election monitoring has long been a tool to investigate potential violations of voting rights laws. But questions remain about the authority that federal personnel will have at Lake County polling places.
Emily Shrock, senior counsel with the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights’ Midwest Voting Rights Program, said the Justice Department’s notification to election officials is consistent with how it normally operates. But she described the administration’s broader announcement to deploy 1,000 monitors nationwide as a departure from past practice.
She also said that Indiana’s requirements would generally limit federal monitors without authorization to observe election activity from outside polling locations.
“In Indiana, you are required to have a credential to get into a polling location,” she said. “So it would be purely an observational role outside the polling location.”
Shrock said the monitors should not approach voters as they enter polling places, and voters leaving a polling place may choose whether to speak with them.
“They are supposed to be just observing and not interfering with our election,” Shrock said.
