Johnson County is one of three Kansas counties where federal election monitors are stationed Tuesday, Nov. 3.

The U.S. Department of Justice said it deployed approximately 1,000 monitors and observers to all 50 states, a first in the program's history. In Kansas, monitors were assigned to Johnson, Wyandotte and Sedgwick counties.

The scale marks a sharp increase.

The DOJ monitored 86 jurisdictions across 27 states during the 2024 presidential election, according to the DOJ’s 2024 announcement.

The effort is coordinated by the DOJ's Civil Rights Division. Monitors include personnel from the division, other DOJ components, U.S. Attorney's Offices and federal observers from the Office of Personnel Management.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division said in a statement that election integrity has been a top priority and that the department is pursuing transparency for elections in an assertive and nondiscriminatory manner. The DOJ has sent election monitors since the Voting Rights Act's enactment in 1965.

Monitors will check for compliance with federal voting rights laws, including the Voting Rights Act, the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act. The DOJ's Disability Rights Section will also monitor compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act at polling places.

The deployment has drawn criticism. Some voting rights groups, including the NAACP, said they believe the monitors could suppress turnout and disenfranchise voters, particularly from minority groups, USA Today reported. In states with closely contested Senate races, monitors were assigned to cities and counties with disproportionately high levels of Black and Hispanic residents, according to U.S. Census data cited by USA Today.

Some local election officials have also expressed concerns that a large wave of observers could interfere with voters, according to Axios.

The monitoring comes as Johnson County sees heightened election interest. The county had 475,000 registered voters as of early October, up from 463,000 at the same point in the 2022 midterm cycle, according to KCTV5. As of Oct. 6, Johnson County Election Commissioner Connie Schmidt said the county had 1,300 workers in training for 141 Election Day sites.

Voters with questions or complaints about federal voting rights can call the DOJ's hotline at 1-800-253-3931 or email [email protected].