Georgia Poll Monitors Spark Outcry, but Biden's DOJ Sent Them Too

The U.S. Department of Justice plans to station election monitors in six Georgia counties on Election Day, Nov. 3, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which reported that Bibb, Cobb, Chatham, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties have received notices from the department.

The AJC noted that each of those counties has delivered solid wins for Democrats in recent elections, and that the notices have raised concerns among Democrats and some election officials about what the monitors might do in November. Early voting is already underway in Georgia.

DOJ to send monitors to 6 Georgia counties with Democratic majorities https://t.co/0GIAyne8N3

— Atlanta Journal-Constitution (@ajc) October 24, 2026

The department’s own description of the program paints a far more routine picture. The Civil Rights Division sent Oct. 21 notices to election officials in multiple states, and in the version sent to Colorado about monitoring in Adams County, the division said the monitoring “is done in the same way as in the past,” Denver7 reported. “Our monitors only observe and take notes,” the letter states, according to Denver7.

According to Denver7’s account of that letter, monitors introduce themselves to the poll manager and show government identification, follow all state and local rules, and dress in business casual clothing, with uniforms and pins identifying them as Justice Department staff not allowed. Denver7 reported that the letter also says monitors do not talk to voters inside polling places and are barred from carrying firearms, even in states that allow open carry.

Not new, and not one-sided

Federal election monitoring in metro Atlanta is nothing new. In 2024, under the Biden administration, the Justice Department announced it would monitor voting in Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett and Macon-Bibb counties during that year’s general election to check compliance with federal voting rights laws, FOX 5 Atlanta reported at the time. That means five of the six counties on this year’s list were also monitored by the previous administration.

FOX 5 reported that the 2024 effort was coordinated by the department’s Civil Rights Division, with personnel on the ground and in contact with state and local election officials throughout Election Day, the same division running this year’s program.

Savannah plan

In coastal Georgia, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia, led by U.S. Attorney Meg Heap, announced a strategy with the Civil Rights Division to oversee federal voting protections and investigate potential election fraud as early voting began, the Savannah Business Journal reported. The outlet said the office pledged to protect “the right of every legal voter to cast their ballot without intimidation or interference.”

The Savannah Business Journal also reported that the department informed Chatham County’s acting elections supervisor, Billy Wooten, in writing that it would monitor the county’s elections, though it was unclear when monitors would arrive.

Georgia remains one of the most closely watched battlegrounds heading into the Nov. 3 midterms. Critics of the move have framed it as targeting Democratic strongholds, but the department’s own description of the program and the Biden-era record in the same counties suggest the monitors will be doing exactly what federal observers have done in Georgia for years: watching, taking notes and staying out of the way.

Sources

• The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: DOJ to send monitors to 6 Georgia counties with Democratic majorities
• Denver7: Department of Justice to send election monitors to Adams County on Election Day
• Savannah Business Journal: U.S. Attorney’s Office announces Election Integrity Plan
• FOX 5 Atlanta: Justice Department to scrutinize elections in multiple Georgia counties (2024)
• The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on X

Reporting by Daily Beltway.