{"id":1904,"date":"2026-08-04T19:30:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T19:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/?p=1904"},"modified":"2026-08-04T19:30:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T19:30:14","slug":"doj-sends-monitors-to-michigan-poll-sites-as-lawmakers-warn-of-partisan-aim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/?p=1904","title":{"rendered":"DOJ sends monitors to Michigan poll sites as lawmakers warn of partisan aim"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__divider\">\n<div class=\"listen-to-article\"><button class=\"listen-to-article__button\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-button\"><title>Listen<\/title>Listen (4 mins)<\/button><\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share__update-reading-list-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"update-reading-list\">\n<p class=\"update-reading-list__button-text\">Save<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"screen-reader-text\">Click here to share on social media<\/div>\n<p><title>share-nodes<\/title><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<div class=\"rich-share__links rich-share__links--row\" data-testid=\"share-links\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__social rich-share__social--row\"><a class=\"rich-share__social-link row\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" aria-label=\"Share on Facebook\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Faje.news%2Fw3wspp\"><title>facebook<\/title><\/a><a class=\"rich-share__social-link row\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" aria-label=\"Share on Twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=DOJ%20sends%20monitors%20to%20Michigan%20poll%20sites%20as%20lawmakers%20warn%20of%20partisan%20aim&amp;source=sharethiscom&amp;related=sharethis&amp;via=AJEnglish&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Faje.news%2Fw3wspp\"><title>x<\/title><\/a><a class=\"rich-share__social-link row u-hidden--desktop\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" aria-label=\"Share on Whatsapp\" href=\"\/\/send?text=https%3A%2F%2Faje.news%2Fw3wspp\"><title>whatsapp-stroke<\/title><\/a><a class=\"rich-share__social-link row copylink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" aria-label=\"Copy link\" href=\"https:\/\/aje.news\/w3wspp\"><title>copylink<\/title><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"google-preferred-source\"><button class=\"google-preferred-source__button\" aria-label=\"Add Al Jazeera on Google\" data-testid=\"google-preferred-source-button\"><title>google<\/title><span class=\"google-preferred-source__text\">Add Al Jazeera on Google<\/span><\/button><button aria-label=\"See more of Al Jazeera\u2019s trusted journalism by adding us as a preferred source on Google.\" class=\"tooltip-accessible_trigger\"><title>info<\/title><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-featured__media\">\n<figure class=\"article-featured-image\">\n<div class=\"responsive-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/reuters_6a722849-1785866313.jpg?resize=770%2C513&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"A man votes at a polling station during the Michigan primary elections, in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., August 4, 2026. REUTERS\/Rebecca Cook\"><\/div><figcaption>A man votes at a polling station during the Michigan primary elections in Detroit, Michigan, the United States [Rebecca Cook\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-info m--t-20 m--desktop-b-30 m--b-mobile-20\">\n<div class=\"byline byline--single-avatar\">\n<div class=\"avatars-container\"><a class=\"avatar\" aria-hidden=\"true\" href=\"\/author\/joseph_stepansky_170108112414933\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"responsive-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/profile-pic-fix.jpg?resize=96%2C96&amp;quality=80\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"byline-content\">\n<div class=\"contributors-list contributors-list--byline\"><span class=\"contributors-list__by-prefix\">By <\/span><a href=\"\/author\/joseph_stepansky_170108112414933\">Joseph Stepansky<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<div class=\"date-simple\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 4 Aug 2026<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">4 Aug 2026<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wysiwyg wysiwyg--all-content\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p>The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced it has sent federal monitors to polls in four Democratic-leaning cities in Michigan, amid warnings that the administration of United States President Donald Trump could use such monitors for partisan aims.<\/p>\n<p>The DOJ announced the monitors would be present during Michigan\u2019s primary vote on Tuesday as part of an effort to \u201censure free and fair elections nationwide\u201d, according to Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"more-on__list\">\n<li class=\"more-on__article\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list 1 of 3<\/span><a class=\"more-on__link\" href=\"\/news\/2026\/7\/15\/us-intelligence-director-pick-refuses-to-acknowledge-trump-loss-in-2020\">US intelligence director pick refuses to acknowledge Trump loss in 2020<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"more-on__article\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list 2 of 3<\/span><a class=\"more-on__link\" href=\"\/news\/2026\/7\/15\/really-big-news-what-to-know-about-trumps-primetime-speech-on-thursday\">\u2018Really big news\u2019: What to know about Trump\u2019s primetime speech on Thursday<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"more-on__article\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list 3 of 3<\/span><a class=\"more-on__link\" href=\"\/news\/2026\/7\/17\/key-takeaways-from-donald-trumps-speech-on-election-security\">Key takeaways from Donald Trump\u2019s controversial speech on election security<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>\u201cThe Department of Justice is devoting extensive resources to ensure uniform and nondiscriminatory monitoring,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n<p>While the department has for decades overseen an election monitoring programme to ensure compliance with federal civil rights laws, lawmakers and advocates have raised concerns over how such a programme could be used under the current administration.<\/p>\n<p>Trump has for years alleged, without evidence, that US elections have been marred by widespread fraud. He has never acknowledged his 2020 loss to US President Joe Biden.<\/p>\n<p>Michigan has played a major role in those claims.<\/p>\n<p>In a <a href=\"\/news\/2026\/7\/17\/key-takeaways-from-donald-trumps-speech-on-election-security\">primetime speech<\/a> delivered in mid-July, Trump re-upped a previously concluded probe into alleged voter fraud in the city of Muskegon as he called on the FBI to reinvestigate the case. Local officials had already determined that several voter registration forms had been fraudulently filled out in the city by employees of a consulting firm attempting to falsely reach their quotas.<\/p>\n<p>No fraudulent ballots were cast in connection with the fake voter registration forms. State officials have highlighted the situation as proof of the efficacy of their election security practices.<\/p>\n<div class=\"container--ads in-article-ads\">\n<div class=\"ads\"><span class=\"ads__title\"> Advertisement <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The announcement on Tuesday came weeks after the Department of Justice said it planned to monitor 15 jurisdictions across six states: Arizona, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Virginia. The DOJ has said it will expand the use of monitors leading into November.<\/p>\n<p>The department did not give a reason for why the four Michigan cities \u2013 \u00a0Detroit, Hamtramck, Lansing, and East Lansing \u2013 were selected.<\/p>\n<p>Detroit, Lansing and East Lansing are all heavily Democratic leaning. Hamtramck, considered the first Muslim-majority city in the US, has historically leaned Democratic, but has shifted increasingly Republican in recent years.<\/p>\n<p>Residents of the state on Tuesday were casting ballots to determine party nominees in local, state and US Congressional races for the midterm election in November.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin:0px;padding:0px\">Key races include a fierce Democratic Senate race, with progressive\u00a0<a href=\"\/news\/2026\/8\/1\/us-arabs-eye-historic-senate-win-for-abdul-el-sayed-despite-aipac-attacks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Abdul El-Sayed<\/a> hoping to defeat US Representative Haley Stevens, widely viewed as a weathervane for the party\u2019s future.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Voters will also decide the candidates for the gubernatorial race, with Trump-backed US Representative John James facing off with former presidential candidate Perry Johnson on the Republican side, as Democrat Jocelyn Benson, the current Michigan state secretary, is expected to sail to victory in her party\u2019s primary.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"democrats-ask-for-assurances\">Democrats ask for assurances<\/h2>\n<p>In a letter to the Department of Justice dated Monday, 10 Democratic senators asked for assurances that FBI monitors deployed across the country will not \u201ctarget jurisdictions in a partisan manner; discourage voter participation or interfere with the voting process; or pressure, harass, or interfere with state and local election officials as they do their jobs\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>They noted the wider context in which the monitors are being deployed, including efforts by the Trump administration to obtain state voter rolls. On Tuesday, a judge ruled the administration could not access Colorado\u2019s voter data, the latest in a string of similar rulings.<\/p>\n<p>Trump has also called for Republicans to \u201cnationalise\u201d elections. Under the US Constitution, state governments administer elections, in a system of decentralisation that advocates have long argued protects against wholesale interference.<\/p>\n<div style=\"display:block;position:relative;min-width:0px;max-width:770px\">\n<\/div>\n<p>The senators said that the DOJ has characterised the monitors as \u201croutine\u201d and \u201cnon-partisan\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHowever, it would be remiss not to acknowledge concerns that monitors are being deployed disproportionately to jurisdictions in states governed by Democratic leaders or with Democratic chief election officials,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n<div class=\"container--ads in-article-ads\">\n<div class=\"ads\"><span class=\"ads__title\"> Advertisement <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cMoreover, election monitors are being deployed in the context of President Trump\u2019s ongoing threats to nationalise, militarise, and otherwise interfere with the conduct of free and fair elections.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ListenListen (4 mins) Save Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share facebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylink googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo A man votes at a polling station during the Michigan primary elections in Detroit, Michigan, the United States [Rebecca Cook\/Reuters] By Joseph Stepansky Published On 4 Aug 20264 Aug 2026 The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - 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