The Department of Justice has assigned Civil Rights Division monitors to polling sites in Manchester and Nashua ahead of the New Hampshire primary to bolster ballot security and transparency. Four Voting Section staffers are assigned to each city, and personnel will accept public complaints through Election Day on Nov. 3. The deployment is part of a broader July 7 plan to send monitors to 15 jurisdictions in six states, and officials say monitoring will expand for the November elections, with roughly 1,000 monitors expected. The move follows a June 29 court ruling that denied DOJ access to New Hampshire's unredacted voter registration list.
DOJ Deploys Monitors to Manchester and Nashua Ahead of New Hampshire Primary
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division (Getty)
The U.S. Department of Justice has deployed Civil Rights Division monitors to polling locations in Manchester and Nashua ahead of Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, officials said. The deployment is intended to protect ballot security, increase transparency and ensure compliance with federal voting laws.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division said the monitoring is part of ongoing efforts through primary season and precedes an expanded campaign of election monitoring for the midterm elections.
On-the-ground presence: Four staff members from the Civil Rights Division's Voting Section have been assigned to each city to observe procedures, answer questions and accept complaints from members of the public about potential violations of federal voting rights laws. Division personnel will accept questions and complaints through Election Day on Nov. 3.
"The Department of Justice is continuing its monitoring efforts all the way through primary season," Dhillon said. "This is the last week before the Division begins ramping up preparations for midterm election monitoring, which will help ensure trust and transparency throughout the country."
Erin Creegan, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Hampshire, said her office is partnering with the Civil Rights Division to uphold election integrity. "New Hampshire's elections, including our critical First-in-the-Nation Primary, deserve to instill the highest possible confidence," Creegan said in a news release. "My office will continue bringing together state and federal partners to ensure that Granite State elections are free, fair, and in accordance with all applicable laws."
The Civil Rights Division announced on July 7 that it planned to send monitors to 15 jurisdictions across six states during the 2026 primary season—Arizona, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Virginia. Officials later said monitoring has extended to additional states, including Florida and Wyoming for contests on Aug. 18.
In an Aug. 17 interview with Bloomberg, Dhillon said the department intends to deploy roughly 1,000 monitors to polling sites during the November elections. "We just did it in the primary," she said. "We will do it to the tune of approximately 1,000 election monitors in the November election. This is something that DOJ does." She added that the total is "probably going to be a historic number for a Republican administration."
The New Hampshire deployment follows a June 29 ruling by U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante, who dismissed a DOJ lawsuit seeking the state's unredacted statewide voter registration list. The judge found the department had not shown entitlement to the records under a provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1960, and New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan had refused to turn over the data, citing voter privacy concerns.
Reporting compiled from department announcements and public statements.
Help us improve.
