The U.S. Justice Department plans to monitor or observe voting Tuesday in seven Texas counties, including Bexar County. Top officials called it the largest election monitoring operation in the department's history. DOJ officials said about 1,000 monitors and observers had been sent to all 50 states.
Besides Bexar, the Texas counties are Dallas, Harris, Waller, Blanco, Bowie and Nueces. The Civil Rights Division is overseeing the effort, with staff from several DOJ divisions, U.S. attorneys' offices and the Office of Personnel Management.
Bexar County Elections Administrator Michele Carew told the Express-News that the federal monitors are no different from poll watchers assigned by candidates and parties, except that they must stay at least 100 feet from polling locations. Carew said that when she asked why the monitors were sent to Bexar County, they pointed mainly to a backlog of 45,000 voter registration applications. The county had to process them quickly after a Texas Department of Public Safety error, according to the Express-News. Carew also said federal officials told her they are ensuring bilingual workers staff polling stations.