Washington County election commissioners on Monday voted to bar U.S. Department of Justice representatives from coming inside polling places on Election Day, a move that will force federal monitors to remain outside polling entrances and at least 100 feet away like other members of the public. Pulaski County election officials plan to consider the same question at a meeting Thursday at 7 p.m.
what the votes and plans mean
The action follows a federal announcement that about 1,000 Justice Department monitors will be dispatched across the country to observe voting on Nov. 3. In Arkansas, the department plans monitoring activity in only two counties: Pulaski and Washington.
- Washington County commissioners said federal representatives would not be granted special access to come inside polling places; monitors must remain outside and 100 feet from entrances.
- Pulaski County officials scheduled a meeting Thursday at 7 p.m. to consider whether to adopt similar limits.
- The Justice Department said monitors are prohibited from interfering with voting and that monitoring is routine work the department has conducted for decades.
The Washington County vote does not prevent monitors from being in the county; it only denies them entry beyond the public exterior perimeter. County commissioners made the decision at a public meeting and posted an explanation on social media after technical problems interrupted a live feed.
concerns raised by local candidates
Democratic county judge nominees in both counties have questioned why Pulaski and Washington were selected for monitoring. Pulaski County Democratic nominee Wendell Griffen said residents and candidates worry monitors could intimidate voters or otherwise interfere with the process.
“Are they sending these monitors to observe how well we do elections and how well our voters vote, or are they sending them to meddle in our elections and to interfere with our voters as they vote?” Wendell Griffen said.
Washington County Democratic county judge candidate Dana Deree also expressed concern, and both nominees said they had not seen evidence of election problems that would explain why the Justice Department selected their counties.
department of justice response
A Justice Department spokesperson told KATV that monitoring is a nationwide, routine activity and reiterated that monitors must follow legal and ethical requirements that bar interference with voting. The department emphasized it will conduct monitoring in all 50 states, including Arkansas.
context and local politics
Pulaski is Arkansas’ most populous county; Washington is the state’s third-most populous. Local observers noted the department is not planning monitors in some other populous counties, including Benton County. The announcement that 1,000 monitors would be used nationwide was substantially larger than the number the department sent in 2022, a fact that has drawn attention in counties selected for monitoring.
Pulaski County election commissioners will take up the issue at their meeting Thursday evening; any formal restrictions they adopt would apply to the access federal monitors have inside polling locations on Election Day.
