The Justice Department said ATF personnel will work as election monitors at polling places next Tuesday. Eric Neff of the DOJ Voting Section stated this in a court response to an NAACP records lawsuit, adding that prison bureau and DEA staff will also observe.

Those monitors will not carry firearms or wear agency identifiers, will dress in business casual, and will only watch and take notes after training on local law. Some gun owners are likely to be alarmed because of ATF actions at Waco and Ruby Ridge. Former DOJ attorney Justin Levitt said such agencies are not normally used this way, yet the observers can be removed if they intimidate voters, and the department will not list the assigned sites.