Fears as Trump DOJ plans to send DEA, ATF and prison guards to polls

Election monitors deployed by the federal government will be drawn from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

The Department of Justice set out that arrangement in a court filing made late Wednesday.

Under the commitment outlined in the filing, FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel will not monitor the midterm elections.

The case is a federal one brought by the NAACP, the civil rights organization that advocates for racial justice and rights for Black Americans.

The organization sued to bar prosecutors and other law enforcement personnel from serving as monitors.

It argued the Trump administration's plans amount to voter intimidation.

According to the filing, those monitors will not be acting as law enforcement personnel while monitoring.

Their main role will be to observe polling places and take notes, the filing said.

Carrying firearms will be prohibited.

The filing also said monitors have been trained not to interfere in voting and to follow state and local rules, consistent with past practice.

The lawsuit came against a backdrop of an increasingly aggressive Trump administration approach to election oversight.

It has pressed states for voter-registration data and argued stricter measures are needed to ensure public confidence in the vote.

Some officials told Reuters this month that they are preparing for potential federal interference in the midterm elections.

Their apprehension is that President Donald Trump could use the federal government's vast resources to disrupt an election capable of crippling his final two years in office.

Those organizing the poll-watching effort will not stand alone.

Democrats and non-partisan watchdogs are organizing a massive presence at polling places for Election Day in the midterms.

The extensive left-leaning election protection initiative plans to station tens of thousands of monitors.

It will coincide with the Justice Department's largest-ever monitoring operation alongside additional observers from conservative-aligned groups.

The resulting scene could be unlike anything seen at polling stations in modern history.

Organisers within Democratic and non-profit circles are currently training volunteers to observe voting sites and flag worrisome behaviour.

The coalition brings together established advocacy groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union and Common Cause, with a surge of volunteers mobilised by state Democratic parties, congressional leadership, national activists, and democracy defence organisations.

To counter online misinformation and artificial intelligence deepfakes, the Democratic National Committee's Association of State Democratic Committees has created a novel cybersecurity unit featuring former CIA and FBI personnel, according to DNC vice chair Jane Kleeb.

Democratic mayors, attorneys general, and secretaries of state are simultaneously hosting tabletop exercises simulating potential crisis scenarios.

Those scenarios include the seizure of ballots and voting equipment or a sudden influx of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at voting venues.

On Capitol Hill, Democratic leaders have assembled a legal team comparable in scope to that of a presidential campaign.

"We’ve never done this before," Kleeb said regarding the extensive mobilization. But "we’ve never had to deal with the president of the United States saying that he may seize ballots, put ICE agents outside polling locations and other kinds of very clear direct threats to the voting process."

The Department of Justice, meanwhile, has already brought legal actions in Alaska and California that could potentially influence how votes are certified or counted.

Military and administration officials maintain that no plans exist to send immigration officers or military forces to voting locations, even as Trump persists in making baseless allegations regarding election fraud.