Union County has had federal election observers at every contest since 2023. It is one of three places where federal monitors are permitted to enter polling places and ballot-counting venues; elsewhere, DOJ observers must remain outside. The county’s arrangement stems from a 2023 consent decree, not the Trump administration’s current nationwide deployment, and is scheduled to expire this December.
A Court Order With Roots in Spanish-Language Access
According to NJ.com, federal observers have monitored every election in Union County since 2023 under a Biden-era court order that expires this December. The decree was entered on June 12, 2023, and directs observers to attend and observe elections in the county during its term, according to justice.gov. Its requirements and the authority it grants observers are set out in the decree.
Nicole L. DiRado, administrator at the Union County Board of Elections, told NJ.com that observers have no law-enforcement powers and cannot intervene. She described their presence as routine: observers typically introduce themselves, show credentials and ask questions rather than disrupt proceedings.
What the Union County decree requires
The Justice Department’s consent decree says Union County has been continuously covered by Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act since September 18, 1992. That provision requires the county to provide Spanish-language written materials, information and assistance to voters; the decree orders improvements to those election services. The decree authorizes observers to enter polling places during early voting and on Election Day, gather information, review documents and question election officials. They may also speak with voters and observe officials assisting them, unless a voter objects. The order is set to expire this December, as NJ.com reported above.
A Bigger Federal Push, With Conflicting Numbers
Union County's situation is unfolding against a much larger national rollout. The Justice Department is preparing to deploy a far larger monitoring force for the 2026 midterms than it has in years past, though exact figures differ depending on the source. NJ.com reports the DOJ plans to send more than 1,000 election monitors to all 50 states for Election Day, while NPR reports that DOJ spokesperson Kiersten Pels said the department planned to send 1,000 observers nationwide, calling it the agency's largest monitoring effort. Either way, it marks a sharp jump from the 388 federal monitors sent out under the Biden administration during the 2022 midterms, and from the 64 jurisdictions across 24 states the Biden DOJ monitored on that Election Day, according to npr.org.
It remains unknown where the DOJ's 2026 monitors will be deployed around New Jersey, NJ.com reports. The DOJ has sent monitors to New Jersey before — Passaic County in 2025 and Middlesex County in 2022 — but this year's specific assignments have not been disclosed. Elsewhere in the country, the rollout has already begun: counties in Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Texas, and Washington have received notifications, according to opb.org, and NPR confirmed notifications sent to seven Texas counties, King County in Washington, Miami-Dade County in Florida, and Hennepin and Ramsey counties in Minnesota. Adams County, Colorado also received a notification, with the department saying it prioritized competitive elections and citing the county's coverage under Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act, per the same outlet.
Friction Elsewhere Raises Questions About Access
Past deployments show these monitoring efforts don't always go smoothly. During Minnesota's August 2026 primary, monitors were denied close access to polling locations in counties the DOJ had requested to monitor, the outlet reports. And in 2024, Texas went to court to try to block Biden-era DOJ monitors from entering polling and ballot-counting locations altogether — a reminder that the kind of inside access Union County grants is still the exception rather than the rule nationally.
Pels told NJ.com that monitors must meet legal and ethical requirements and not interfere with voting, and that they would observe for potential violations of federal law and report concerns to the department, which will review them after Election Day. The DOJ has also confirmed, in a court filing, that FBI and ICE employees will not serve as election monitors, and that monitors will not carry guns, will not wear clothing identifying them as federal agents, and will not speak with voters before they cast ballots.
Advocates Raise Concerns, State Pushes Back and Forth
Voting rights advocates have flagged worries about how this expanded monitoring, paired with other developments, could affect turnout. Liza Weisberg, an ACLU of New Jersey supervising attorney focused on voting rights, said DOJ priorities under the current administration may differ from past priorities, and that in most circumstances, New Jersey monitors cannot enter polling places. She warned that intrusive questions or enforcement actions by monitors could be discriminatory or intimidating, and potentially unconstitutional. The ACLU of New Jersey may use courts and other remedies if discrimination or intimidation occurs at the polls.
Amber Reed, co-executive director of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders of New Jersey, said advocates will have less access than federal observers inside polling and ballot-counting locations. Jessica Acee, senior organizer at States at the Core, characterized federal election monitoring as a tool to intimidate voters. Voting rights advocates have also warned that monitors’ presence or immigration enforcement near polling sites could discourage participation.
The New Jersey Attorney General's Office said this past week it was preparing for the possibility of federal interference with New Jersey elections, a statement that drew sharp criticism from Christine Hanlon, Monmouth County clerk and chair of the state Republican party, who called it political and accused the attorney general of stoking fears. New Jersey Democrats have also expressed worry that the Trump administration and allies could send military personnel or immigration agents to polling places, though federal law largely restricts either from being present at polling sites. The state legislature tried to fast-track a bill in late October to bar federal agents and military from near polling places, but pulled the measure after Governor Mikie Sherrill raised concerns about its legal viability.
Meanwhile, New Jersey Republicans have raised their own concerns, pointing to voting issues stemming from automatic voter registration after the state investigated a Motor Vehicle Commission glitch that added 6,600 noncitizens to voter rolls. DiRado, for her part, said Union County has not changed its election protocols this year in response to concerns about Trump administration interference, noting that complaints about elections are often received months after the fact. Federal election monitoring, for all the current attention, has been standard practice for decades — it's the scale and the access in places like Union County that now set this election apart.
