Federal election monitors are coming to Philadelphia. Here's what they can and can't do

The U.S. Justice Department plans to send election monitors to polling places in Philadelphia for the Nov. 3 general election, according to a letter to Pennsylvania's secretary of state obtained by the Inquirer. The letter also names Allegheny, Luzerne and Lehigh counties.

For voters, the short version from state and city election officials is that nothing about how you vote changes. Here is what the monitors are, what they can and can't do, and what officials have said on the record.

What the letter says

The letter came from James T. Catania, a trial lawyer in the department's Civil Rights Division who oversees the Pennsylvania monitoring, the Inquirer reported. It says monitors will check compliance with federal laws, including the Voting Rights Act, the National Voter Registration Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

• Similar letters went to officials in Michigan, Ohio, Georgia, Indiana, Maine, Colorado and Washington, the Inquirer reported.
• Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon has said the department will deploy about 1,000 monitors in all 50 states, and that they will look at disability access, language help for voters with limited English, and voter intimidation, the paper reported.
• The department hasn't said which polling places will get monitors, WHYY reported. The letter says monitors will not "intrude or interfere in any way in the voting process."

What monitors can and can't do

According to WHYY and state officials:

• Pennsylvania law does not let federal monitors inside polling places. They are not the same as poll watchers, who are certified by parties and candidates.
• Monitors can't intimidate, threaten or coerce voters, or block them.
• They can't question voters about citizenship, criminal records or other qualifications, or demand documents.

Secretary of State Al Schmidt said DOJ monitors have no more access to polling places than any member of the public, WHYY reported. He said the state expects everyone in and around polling places "to follow all state and federal laws." Voters who believe their rights were violated can call the state's voter hotline, 1-877-868-3772.

What Philadelphia's election officials say

Philadelphia's elections are run by the three City Commissioners.

• Commissioner Seth Bluestein said he doesn't see the announcement as a cause for concern, the Inquirer reported. He said that in 2022, when federal monitors last came to Philadelphia for a midterm, their main focus was whether polling places had materials in Spanish and Chinese. He planned to talk with Catania before Election Day.
• Commissioner Omar Sabir said he wasn't worried and pointed to the Voting Rights Act as the legal basis for monitoring, the Northeast Times reported.
• The ACLU of Pennsylvania said monitors were used in the same counties in earlier elections without problems, the Inquirer reported. The Campaign Legal Center has raised concerns about training for monitors recruited from outside the Civil Rights Division, WHYY reported.

What's on your ballot from City Council

Two citywide charter questions are on the ballot, both put there by Council:

• Question 1, on city contracting and small-business preferences, from Bill 260457. Our explainer.
• Question 2, on making the Office of Creative Philadelphia permanent in the charter, from Bill 260264-A, which passed 17-0 on June 11. Our explainer.

Key dates and how to vote

From the city's election guide:

• Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3. If you're in line by 8 p.m., you can vote.
• Mail ballots must arrive by 8 p.m. on Election Day. The city has 34 drop boxes and 10 satellite election offices. The city recommends mailing ballots at least seven days before Election Day. Drop boxes and satellite offices are the other ways to return one.
• The application deadline for a mail ballot online or in person was Oct. 27.
• You can see your polling place and a sample ballot by entering your address at atlas.phila.gov/voting.

What's next

Regional coordinators will pass along any problems monitors report on Election Day, a department spokesperson told the Inquirer, which the department says follows past practice. Council's next session is Nov. 12, nine days after the vote (meeting page).