{"id":315741,"date":"2026-10-28T01:14:26","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T01:14:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/315741\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T01:14:26","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T01:14:26","slug":"doj-to-send-election-monitors-to-four-pennsylvania-counties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/315741\/","title":{"rendered":"DOJ to send election monitors to four Pennsylvania counties"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Department of Justice plans to deploy election monitors to four Pennsylvania counties on Election Day, while local officials in the Susquehanna Valley say they are not concerned about the absence of monitors in their region.<\/p>\n

\"Baylee<\/a>LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. \u2014<\/p>\n

The Department of Justice\u2019s Civil Rights Division has announced plans to send election monitors to Philadelphia, Allegheny, Luzerne, and Lehigh counties in Pennsylvania on Election Day. <\/p>\n

Schmidt outlines limits on DOJ monitors\u2019 access<\/p>\n

In a letter to Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt, the DOJ stated that monitors “only observe and take notes” and “do not intrude or interfere in any way in the voting process.” Schmidt addressed the announcement, emphasizing that monitors must follow all state and federal laws. <\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

“DOJ monitors are not legally entitled to any greater access to polling places than any member of the public. We encourage them to coordinate with county election offices to ensure that their activities on Election Day do not disrupt the voting process in any way,” Schmidt said. <\/p>\n

The DOJ explained that the monitors\u2019 purpose is to report any election issues they encounter to the head of their jurisdiction. However, no explanation was provided as to why the DOJ chose Philadelphia, Allegheny, Luzerne, and Lehigh counties or why other counties, including those in the Susquehanna Valley, were excluded. <\/p>\n

How election monitors differ from poll watchers<\/p>\n

Lancaster County Commissioner Ray D\u2019Agostino said election monitors are not a new concept. <\/p>\n

“Election monitors have been something that’s been happening for decades. It’s no different, quite frankly, than poll watchers coming in and watching the process. And if there are questions, they have the ability to ask questions. If they see something that they have a question about, they can ask. Then they can get an answer,” D\u2019Agostino said. <\/p>\n

Election monitors differ from poll watchers, who are authorized by campaigns or political parties to be stationed inside polling locations. Poll watchers are in a separate area from voters and must follow specific guidelines set by the state. <\/p>\n

No monitors expected at Susquehanna Valley polling places<\/p>\n

Lebanon County elections official Sean Drasher said voters in his county should not expect any changes. <\/p>\n

“We all have to follow the same rules. No military or police force or anybody is allowed within 100 feet of a polling place. Unless it’s a policeman that’s voting or serving a warrant… As long as everyone follows rules, we’re not worried about it,” Drasher said. <\/p>\n

The DOJ noted that monitors will dress in business casual clothing, will not wear uniforms or identifying pins, and will not be permitted to carry firearms. <\/p>\n

Local election officials confirmed that monitors will not be present at polling places in the Susquehanna Valley. Any issues on Election Day can be addressed by contacting local election offices.<\/p>\n

Lehigh County says DOJ observers cannot enter polling stations<\/p>\n

Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel has addressed concerns about the Department of Justice sending election monitors to the county. <\/p>\n

“We recognize there is broad public concern and skepticism about the integrity and trustworthiness of the Department of Justice given its increasing politicization,” Siegel said in a statement. <\/p>\n

Siegel also stated that DOJ election observers would not be allowed inside county polling stations. <\/p>\n

“DOJ election observers will not be permitted to enter county polling stations and observe from the inside. The county will monitor their presence throughout the day and ensure they adhere to Pennsylvania’s election law around interference and intimidation,” Siegel said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Department of Justice plans to deploy election monitors to four Pennsylvania counties on Election Day, while local…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315742,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[30813,894,128783,4814,22794,42437,128775,128787,5497,128776,128786,128781,128785,16438,740,128777,3685,2467,433,803,28,13869,65829,128778,30,29,128779,69,1212,128789,128784,128782,13203,87338,6266,84869,128788,2483,46037,128780,123939,2812],"class_list":["post-315741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-al-schmidt","tag-allegheny-county","tag-civil-rights-division","tag-department","tag-department-of-justice","tag-doj","tag-doj-election-monitors","tag-doj-observer","tag-election-day","tag-election-day-monitoring","tag-election-monitor","tag-election-monitoring-rules","tag-election-observers","tag-josh-siegel","tag-justice","tag-justice-department-civil-rights-division","tag-lancaster-county","tag-lebanon-county","tag-lehigh-county","tag-luzerne-county","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-county","tag-pennsylvania-election-law","tag-pennsylvania-election-monitors","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-pennsylvania-polling-places","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-county","tag-poll-watcher","tag-poll-watchers","tag-poll-watchers-vs-election-monitors","tag-polling-place","tag-polling-places","tag-schmidt","tag-sean-drasher","tag-siegel","tag-susquehanna-valley","tag-susquehanna-valley-county","tag-susquehanna-valley-elections","tag-voting-process","tag-wgal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315741\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}