The U.S. Department of Justice plans to send federal election monitors to Franklin County for the Tuesday, Nov. 3, midterm election, according to county notifications reported by Signal Ohio.
Franklin County is one of three Ohio counties notified that DOJ staff will observe voting, Signal Ohio reported Oct. 26. Cuyahoga and Medina counties also received letters. The assignment is part of a nationwide effort that plans to deploy about 1,000 monitors across all 50 states, more than triple the number sent for the previous midterm.
Aaron Ockerman, executive director of the Ohio Association of Election Officials, said county election boards in all three counties confirmed they will host federal monitors. He said he did not know why those counties were chosen, what the monitors plan to focus on or whether their presence might extend to early voting.
"We've had federal observers from the DOJ and congressional committees for many years," Ockerman told Signal Ohio.
Franklin County election officials released a DOJ letter similar to one Medina County received but declined to comment, according to Signal Ohio. The Medina County letter, signed by James Catania, a lawyer with the DOJ's Civil Rights Division, said monitors would check for compliance with federal law and would not interfere with voting.
The DOJ said it will not announce specific monitored locations until Election Day. A department spokesperson said all monitors will observe for potential violations of federal law and report concerns for review afterward.
Ohio law limits what observers can do inside polling places. They cannot handle election materials, take photographs, wear uniforms or carry firearms, according to Signal Ohio's review of state election guidance.
Federal monitors have visited Ohio during most presidential and midterm elections over the past decade under both Republican and Democratic administrations. In 2016, DOJ staff monitored Franklin, Cuyahoga and Hamilton counties. In 2020, monitors went to Cuyahoga County.
The expanded 2026 effort comes amid broader tension between the Trump administration and states over election matters. Steve David, state director of All Voting is Local Ohio, a voting rights group, told Signal Ohio his organization is concerned the federal government may try to overstep the bounds monitors have operated within in the past.
Ohio's Nov. 3 election includes races for governor, U.S. Senate, U.S. House and the state legislature. More than 1 million Ohioans had already cast ballots as of Oct. 26, according to Signal Ohio.
