The 2013 gutting of the Voting Rights Act means the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will deploy just 500 election monitors to polling places in 28 states on Tuesday—hundreds less than in 2012, and imbued with limited powers.
The DOJ made its announcement Monday amid escalated concerns about voter intimidation and discrimination.
“The bedrock of our democracy is the right to vote, and the Department of Justice works tirelessly to uphold that right not only on Election Day, but every day,” said Attorney General Loretta Lynch. “The department is deeply committed to the fair and unbiased application of our voting rights laws and we will work tirelessly to ensure that every eligible person that wants to do so is able to cast a ballot.”
But the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder, which struck down parts of the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA), means that work will be curtailed as compared with previous years.
The 500 personnel will be deployed in 67 jurisdictions across 28 states; in 2012 there were 780 monitors sent to 51 jurisdictions in 24 states.
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