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Krishnamoorthi Sounds Alarm Over Trump DOJ Deployments to Polling Places and Voter Suppression Risks

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) — press release (primary document, not a newsroom) · back to the audit
WASHINGTON — Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-08), a senior member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, today sent a letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche sounding the alarm over the Trump Administration's plans to deploy as many as 1,000 Department of Justice election monitors during the 2026 midterms and demanding safeguards against voter intimidation.

In the letter, Krishnamoorthi writes:

"If the Administration repeatedly tells the public that certain voting systems, jurisdictions, or categories of voters are vulnerable to fraud or foreign manipulation, and then sends federal personnel into those same communities on Election Day, the presence of those personnel can create an atmosphere of suspicion and intimidation—even if individual monitors follow their formal instructions. The federal government's presence at a polling place carries authority that ordinary election observers do not, and voters should never be left wondering whether exercising their right to vote has placed them under federal scrutiny."

According to recent reporting cited in the letter, DOJ is preparing as many as 1,000 election monitors for the 2026 midterms, compared with plans to monitor 86 jurisdictions across 27 states during the 2024 general election. During the 2025 election cycle, DOJ also deployed federal observers to six counties in California and New Jersey following requests from Republican state parties, raising concerns about deployments in politically consequential jurisdictions following partisan requests.

Krishnamoorthi requested responses by August 31, 2026, including answers to the following questions:

1. How many federal election monitors does the Department intend to deploy during the 2026 general election, and in how many jurisdictions?
2. What objective, nonpartisan criteria is the Department using to determine where monitors will be deployed?
3. How many jurisdictions receiving federal monitors were selected following requests from Republican or Democratic political parties, candidates, or elected officials?
4. Will the Department commit that political party affiliation, electoral competitiveness, or a jurisdiction's voting history will play no role in determining whether federal monitors are deployed?