INDIANAPOLIS – The U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division will send election monitors to Marion County for the Nov. 3 midterm election, according to the Marion County Election Board and a DOJ letter provided to Indy Politics by the Marion County Clerk’s Office.
Marion County is one of only two Indiana counties to receive the designation, according to the board. The other is Lake County.
The notice came in an email to the Election Board from Hwui Lee, a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division who identified himself as the regional coordinator supervising election monitors in Indiana. The email is dated Oct. 20. In its statement, the board said it received notice on Oct. 21.
“This is to notify you that the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice intends to send election monitors to your jurisdiction on November 3, 2026,” Lee wrote.
The letter was copied to Timothy Mellett, deputy chief of the division’s Voting Section, and to Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Mohler of the Southern District of Indiana.
Lee wrote that the monitors “only observe” and do not interfere in the voting process. He said the monitors would check compliance with federal voting laws under the division’s jurisdiction. The letter lists the Voting Rights Act, the National Voter Registration Act, the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act, the Civil Rights Act, the Help America Vote Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Lee asked to meet with the board on Microsoft Teams before Oct. 29. He wrote that the meeting would cover “any specific issues” the division may focus on in the county.
Marion County Clerk Kate Sweeney Bell said local officials were given no explanation for the county’s selection.
“We were not informed as to who or what prompted this unique status,” Sweeney Bell said in a statement released Thursday. “We were not told what criteria was used to make this determination, and we do not know why the Department of Justice chose these two specific counties in this election cycle in this particular state.”
The board said it has not been told what the monitors will specifically do on Election Day, beyond observing election processes for compliance with federal law.
The board said it recently approved a policy instructing poll workers on how to handle interactions with DOJ officials and federal agents. It said it has also been training poll workers ahead of time for such interactions.
Sweeney Bell said her office has conducted elections in a professional, open and transparent manner.
“Election integrity is paramount, and it means ensuring every legally registered voter who would like to cast a ballot is able to,” she said. “It also means using every legal tool at our disposal to ensure no voter is intimidated or disrupted in the voting process – by anybody – as protected by state and federal law.”
According to the letter, the regional coordinator or the team lead will contact the board or its designee if any issues come up on Election Day.
The letter does not say how many monitors will be sent to Marion County or where they will be stationed.
