Trump DOJ poll monitors caught 'doing things not allowed by law': state election chief

Justice Department election monitors sparked alarm Tuesday after New Mexico officials accused them of improperly questioning voters at polling locations, prompting complaints to federal authorities.

PBS NewsHour White House correspondent Liz Landers reported that New Mexico’s secretary of state raised concerns about the conduct of DOJ monitors in Bernalillo County, the only New Mexico county on the department’s monitoring list.

“New Mexico’s Secretary of State tells me that verified DOJ monitors have been asking ‘some unusual questions and doing things that are not allowed by law such as questioning voters,’” she wrote on X.

The county clerk contacted the Justice Department to address the issue, Landers reported.

New Mexico wasn’t the only state to raise concerns. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office said monitors at two polling sites allegedly asked poll workers for training materials and posed questions they weren’t permitted to ask, CBS News reported.

The department announced Tuesday that it had deployed roughly 1,000 monitors and observers to all 50 states for the first time, an effort that has drawn legal challenges.

The allegations quickly drew backlash on social media as Americans continued to head to the polls.

“Why are you goons breaking the law? Will you arrest them?” wrote independent journalist Marcy Wheeler, known online as emptywheel, directing her criticism at Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon.

Journalist Pedro L. Gonzalez said in a post that it was at least the second story of the day about the department’s monitors attempting to interfere in elections, adding that they appeared to be “trying to intimidate voters.”

A Justice Department spokesperson told Landers that officials had spoken with New Mexico’s secretary of state.

“Our team had a productive call with the New Mexico Secretary of State just a few minutes ago,” the spokesperson said. “We believe the issue is resolved and will not affect our ongoing monitoring for the rest of the day.”