An Oct. 22 letter to Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt named Philadelphia, Allegheny, Luzerne and Lehigh counties. The letter did not explain why those counties were selected. James Catania, the Justice Department attorney overseeing monitors in the region, wrote that observers would check compliance with federal voting protections, including the Voting Rights Act, the National Voter Registration Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The observers will follow state and local rules, the letter said, and will not wear uniforms or pins identifying them as Justice Department staff. “Our monitors only observe and take notes,” it said. “They do not intrude or interfere in any way in the voting process.” Pennsylvania’s Department of State said federal observers have no greater access to polling places than members of the public, and that everyone at polling places must follow applicable laws.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s spokesperson, Joe Grace, said the city has a record of running free and fair elections and that voters would have the opportunity to exercise their constitutional rights. Vic Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, said he saw no reason for alarm, noting that previous administrations sent monitors to the same counties. He said counties could remove monitors who violated the rules, though he did not expect that to happen.

The planned deployment is part of a national effort the Trump administration announced in August. The Justice Department deployed fewer than 400 monitors in the 2022 midterm elections. Most of its deployments to primary elections this summer passed without incident, though Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon criticized observers’ conduct at one polling place as “aggressive” and “irregular.” The department says monitors will be present in all 50 states but has not released its full list of locations.