DOJ Tells Court It Pulled Some Armed Agents From Poll Monitor Pool, Kept Prison Staff

The U.S. Department of Justice told a federal judge on Election Day that it removed "several" sworn law enforcement officers from its volunteer election monitoring pool. It also told the court that Bureau of Prisons employees, who hold limited federal arrest powers, remain eligible to serve.

The disclosure came in a three-page status report filed Tuesday in NAACP v. Blanche, Civil Action No. 26-3626, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The filing says DOJ submitted it in compliance with a court order.

WHAT THE FILING SAYS

DOJ's position is that no rule prohibits using sworn law enforcement officers as civil rights election monitors. The department told the court that its Civil Rights Division nonetheless "undertook reasonable efforts to avoid using sworn officers."

According to the filing, those efforts included:

Excluding Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security personnel. DHS includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Consulting with the Drug Enforcement Administration, which barred its sworn officers from serving as monitors.

Reviewing volunteers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Marshals Service. DOJ says this review led to the removal of "several" sworn officers. The filing does not say how many.

Bureau of Prisons employees are still in the program. DOJ acknowledged that BOP staff, "including but not limited to corrections officers," have legal authority to make limited arrests under 18 U.S.C. 3050. That authority applies mainly to offenses on prison property or offenses involving escaped inmates.

DOJ argued that it is "inconceivable" a BOP employee would be authorized to make an arrest at a polling place. Based on that reasoning, the department concluded that using BOP employees as monitors will not create a risk of an arrest at a polling location.

The filing also says a review conducted on Monday, Nov. 2, identified no additional sworn officers among the monitors.

THE LAWSUIT

The NAACP and three of its members filed suit in October. They are seeking to stop DOJ from using criminal prosecutors and federal law enforcement personnel as election monitors. The suit alleges that DOJ's plan violates Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits intimidating voters. It also brings claims under the Administrative Procedure Act.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon has said the department planned to send roughly 1,000 monitors. She described the effort as the largest in DOJ history. Attorney General Todd Blanche has publicly defended the program as consistent with decades of federal election monitoring. He has called claims that the monitors would be armed federal agents "completely false."

The NAACP has filed a second, separate case seeking records about the program under the Freedom of Information Act.

WHAT IT MEANS

The following is analysis based on the filing.

DOJ's filing narrows the question but does not close it. The department says FBI, DHS and DEA sworn personnel are out. It confirms that at least one group of federal employees with arrest authority, Bureau of Prisons staff, may be at polling places today.

The filing does not answer three questions that voters and election officials may want answered:

1. How many Bureau of Prisons employees are serving as monitors.

2. How many sworn officers were removed from the pool.

3. Where monitors were assigned.

The filing also reflects DOJ's legal position that the department is under no obligation to keep sworn officers out of the program. In the filing, DOJ frames its screening as a voluntary choice.

The 956 Report has not confirmed whether federal monitors were assigned to polling sites in Hidalgo, Cameron, Starr or Willacy counties. Voters who have questions about anyone at their polling place can contact their county elections office.

This story will be updated.

Source: Defendants' Status Report, NAACP v. Blanche, No. 1:26-cv-03626, Document 24 (D.D.C., filed Nov. 3, 2026).