Justice Department Election Monitors in Kanawha County Today, but They Must Stay Outside the 100-Foot Line

If you're casting your ballot in Kanawha County today, you might notice someone outside the polling place who isn't a poll worker, a candidate or a neighbor handing out sample ballots. The U.S. Department of Justice has sent election monitors to Kanawha County for Tuesday's general election, and it's the only county in West Virginia on the federal list.

The Justice Department announced Tuesday that it is deploying roughly 1,000 election monitors and observers nationwide, and for the first time in all 50 states. The department calls it the largest monitoring effort in its history. Kanawha is the lone West Virginia jurisdiction named in the department's published list of places it intends to monitor or observe.

What the monitors can and can't do here

Secretary of State Kris Warner said Tuesday that the federal monitors will stay outside polling places and outside West Virginia's 100-foot boundary around them. Warner said his office got a phone call from the Justice Department last week, and state officials made clear what West Virginia law requires: no federal agents of any kind inside polling locations or within 100 feet of them.

Under that understanding, Warner said, any contact is limited to asking voters about their experience after they've voted. Whether to stop and talk is entirely up to each voter. Folks can decline to answer and simply keep walking to their cars.

Warner also offered a bit of practical advice: if someone stops you on the way out and you decide to chat, ask to see their credentials first to make sure they really are with the Justice Department.

Why they're here

According to the Justice Department, the effort is coordinated by its Civil Rights Division and includes personnel from that division, other parts of the department, U.S. Attorney's Offices and federal observers from the Office of Personnel Management. The department says the monitors are checking for compliance with federal voting rights laws, including the Voting Rights Act, the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act, and that its staff will stay in contact with state and local election officials throughout the day.

"Election integrity has been one of the top priorities for this Administration and this Division," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division said in announcing the deployment.

Polls are open until 7:30

None of this changes how you vote. Polls across West Virginia are open until 7:30 p.m. today, and anyone in line at closing time can still cast a ballot. Half of the state Senate, the entire House of Delegates, both of West Virginia's U.S. House seats and a U.S. Senate seat are on the ballot, along with Amendment 1 and plenty of local races.

So grab your neighbor, head to your precinct and make your voice heard. That's how we do it in the Mountain State.