The Justice Department has begun notifying counties where it wants to place election monitors on Election Day, with notices going to jurisdictions in Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Texas and Washington, officials said Oct. 21. The department has not disclosed how many locations it ultimately plans to visit. Last month, Harmeet Dhillon, head of the department’s Civil Rights Division, said the DOJ intended to deploy 1,000 observers nationwide, calling it the largest monitoring effort in the department’s history. A DOJ spokesperson, Kiersten Pels, said the locations and total number of monitors would be announced closer to the election. Federal monitoring of elections is not new. The DOJ sent observers to 64 jurisdictions in 24 states during the 2022 midterms. But this year’s effort is unfolding amid disputes over federal authority and election administration, prompting some county officials to seek clearer answers about why their communities were selected and what monitors will do. In Colorado’s Adams County, Clerk Josh Zygielbaum said the DOJ contacted him but not the clerk in neighboring Weld County, which also includes a sizable share of the competitive 8th Congressional District. He called the selection potentially politically motivated and said it raised questions about intimidation. Pels said the department prioritizes competitive races and selected Adams County because it is covered by Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires election materials to be accessible in certain languages. Weld County is not covered by that provision. Zygielbaum said the explanation had not put him at ease and that his election procedures would not change. He has asked for a state staff member to be present in Adams County to observe the federal observers. The Colorado secretary of state’s office said it was reviewing the requests with the state attorney general. Colorado rules require observers to receive permission from the secretary of state unless a court orders their presence, spokesperson Jack Todd said. The DOJ has confirmed notices to seven Texas counties, as well as King County, Wash.; Miami-Dade County, Fla.; and Hennepin and Ramsey counties in Minnesota. The department’s list appears to be expanding. In some states, county officials initially received notice before state officials, who then sought clarification. Minnesota denied DOJ monitors close access to polling locations during its August primary. State officials have not yet said whether they will make the same decision for the general election. Texas also blocked the Biden administration’s monitors from entering polling and ballot-counting locations in 2024. Attorney General Ken Paxton argued then that the federal government lacked authority to monitor Texas elections. Concerns about monitor conduct have also surfaced. Wyoming’s Republican governor criticized what he described as aggressive and irregular behavior by DOJ observers at the state’s August primary. Pels rejected that account, saying the two monitors did nothing improper and that Dhillon later met with Wyoming officials. The DOJ says its monitoring is intended to ensure compliance with federal voting laws. The central question for local election officials is how that mission will operate alongside state rules governing who may enter polling places and how elections are run.