CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Federal election observers from the Department of Justice are at polling locations in Charlottesville on Tuesday morning, a city spokesperson confirmed to Cville Right Now.
The move comes amidst growing concerns that the Trump administration plans to cast doubt on the outcome of any elections Republicans don’t win Tuesday.
During the city manager report section of Monday night’s Charlottesville City Council meeting, City Attorney John Maddux advised council that the city’s registrar was informed on Oct. 22 that the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division planned to send monitors on Election Day, “but did not explain why Charlottesville had been selected,” Maddux said.
The city’s electoral board approved the DOJ observers, as well as poll observers from the NAACP, Virginia State Conference, the New Virginia Majority, Virginia Organizing, and the Advancement Project.
On Oct. 27, Maddux and City Registrar Taylor Yowell met with Department of Justice representatives and Maddux repeated his request to know why Charlottesville had been selected, along with Fairfax County, Prince William County and Virginia Beach.
“They said this was part of their normal election monitoring,” Maddux said.
He followed up, in writing, with the same question, and the DOJ told him, “There was some concern in past elections about voter intimidation. Both the Registrar and I said, ‘That’s news to us.'”
He requested details of the DOJ allegations. On Oct. 28, the DOJ informed Maddux that Charlottesville had been deemed a “watch area for intimidation concerns” following the Unite the Right rally in 2017 and because of militia activity in the region since 2020. Maddux said neither the registrar’s office nor the Charlottesville Police Department are aware of any threats of voter intimidation in the city.
Yowell told Cville Right Now on Tuesday that the monitoring was expected.
“Charlottesville has been on the list to come to for quite some years, ever since 2017,” Yowell said. “They did not end up doing any poll monitoring during the 2020 general election because of COVID. Charlottesville had not been monitored before, so, it was our time.”
Maddux said it is not clear why the DOJ is in the city this year and said it produced no evidence to support the claim that militias posed a risk to voters.
“I , I think like you all, remain dissatisfied with DOJ’s explanation for selecting Charlottesville,” Maddux said. “I also made clear to them that a federal presence could heighten anxiety among voters that it’s intended to protect.”
Maddox said the DOJ shared the identity of the election monitors who would be working in the city Tuesday. They are DOJ staffers but not law enforcement officers, he said. They are allowed to observe the polling places but cannot handle election materials or direct election officials.
“Our local election officials remain responsible for administering this election,” Maddox said.
