ALLENTOWN, Pa. (WFMZ) — The U.S. Department of Justice announced it will send election monitors to four Pennsylvania counties – including Lehigh County.
Election monitors have been deployed for decades. It’s a common practice. But this year, some are concerned about voter intimidation.
In 20 years, the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania has never had a complaint about a monitor.
“These are the same four counties that the Biden Administration sent monitors to in 2024. This is not anything unusual. They really are just passive observers and that’s the role that we’ve seen them play under many election cycles,” said Vic Walczak of the ACLU of PA.
Nonpartisan nonprofit Committee of 70 told 69 News monitors should not be an issue for most voters and you might not even notice they’re there.
“They’re probably going to look like a person standing outside of the polling place like one of the many other people that are there,” said Andrew McGinley, Vice President of External Affairs for Committee of 70.
Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel is skeptical.
“I do think they want to chill the democratic process. I think their goal is that people will read these articles and be intimidated,” Siegel said.
In an interview over the weekend, President Donald Trump argued his DOJ’s only goal is election integrity.
“They’re not going to do anything other than watch, and if they see something wrong, we want to all have honest elections, and the one thing we have to have is honest elections,” Trump said.
Siegel told us if at any point monitors are not adhering to Pennsylvania election code, they’ll be removed from polling sites.
“Go vote. Lehigh County’s polling sites are safe,” Siegel concluded.
Those with concerns on Election Day can call 866-OUR-VOTE to report a problem.
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