New Haven Bars Federal Poll Watchers Tuesday

The U.S. Department of Justice plans to place monitors inside New Haven polling places on Tuesday, Nov. 3, but the city's registrars say they will not be allowed through the doors. The disagreement centers on what Connecticut law permits inside a voting location.

James T. Tucker, an attorney in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, wrote to New Haven officials last week that federal monitors would examine "compliance with the federal voting rights statutes that fall within the jurisdiction of the Civil Rights Division." He described their role as observation only: "As the Civil Rights Division has done in the past, our monitors only observe. They do not intrude or interfere in any way in the voting process." Tucker identified Zachary Denver, an attorney with the U.S. Attorney's Office for Connecticut, as the team lead for monitoring in the state.

New Haven voter registrars Shannel Evans and Lisa Milone responded Thursday, Oct. 29, that Connecticut statute limits polling place access to "local election officials, municipal clerks and registrars of voters, voters themselves, and members of the news media." They added, "While there are some limited exceptions to the statute, federal election monitors are not one of those exceptions." The registrars said the current "climate in our nation where rhetoric and federal actions appear to be intended to cast doubt on election integrity and to intimidate voters" factored into their position.

Mayor Justin Elicker said voting is "the most precious right we have in our democracy" and stated that his office, the Democratic registrar and the Republican registrar "are united in ensuring every eligible New Haven voter can cast their ballot freely, safely, securely and without fear of intimidation or interference." The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut declined to comment.

Justice Department spokesperson Kiersten V. Pels said the department "will be in all 50 states doing the routine election monitoring the department has done for decades" and confirmed plans for 1,000 monitors nationwide. Pels said monitors "follow the state and local laws and rules that govern polling locations" and are barred from bringing firearms or taking actions beyond observing and taking notes. Eric Neff, acting chief of the Voting Section, said in a court declaration filed Wednesday, Oct. 28, that no FBI or Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees will serve as monitors, though one Customs and Border Protection employee has been detailed to the department. Monitors will also be drawn from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Election officials in Indiana, Kentucky and Arkansas have also restricted monitor access. In a separate matter, Connecticut Secretary of State Stephanie Thomas said her office received a Justice Department letter on Thursday, Oct. 29, about preserving voter registration forms, ballots and other records after the federal election. Similar letters went to state election officials nationwide. Thomas said, "While I hope the decision to emphasize criminal penalties was intended simply as a reminder of the law, it could have been handled differently." The letter ended by noting criminal penalties for officials who "willfully fail to comply."

Tucker is also one of four prosecutors on a Justice Department lawsuit filed in January seeking Connecticut's unredacted voter rolls. U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley dismissed that case in July, and the department has appealed. Federal officials issued subpoenas earlier this month to East Hartford, Plainville and Norwalk for voter data, according to Thomas. Officials in Bridgeport, Danbury and Hartford said they had not received letters about monitor placement.