Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones and the Virginia Department of Elections have issued a 10-page election bulletin instructing local election officials on how to respond if federal law enforcement personnel or Department of Justice monitors appear at polling places on Election Day.
According to the bulletin, local registrars may deny routine DOJ election monitors access to polling locations. Officials are also instructed to ask federal agents to leave polling places, contact local police if they do not, and document the agents’ badge numbers, weapons, vehicles and movements.
The guidance further directs poll workers to record complaints from voters who say the presence of federal agents makes them feel intimidated, and advises officials to consult attorneys before complying with any federal subpoenas seeking election materials.
Former Republican Virginia Delegate Tim Anderson publicized the directive in a lengthy post on X on Friday, summarizing its contents page by page and posting a link to the full document.
“Think about what we’re witnessing. The Attorney General is preparing election officials to scrutinize federal law enforcement while Virginia has eliminated a longstanding Election Day safeguard for questioning voter eligibility,” Anderson wrote.
Anderson’s post also noted that the bulletin identifies no specific unlawful federal operation planned in Virginia, and he questioned why state officials are treating federal election oversight as an adversarial matter.
A separate change to voter-challenge law
The bulletin’s release comes against the backdrop of another change in Virginia election law. HB 640, which took effect July 1, repealed the state’s longstanding process allowing qualified voters and election officers to formally challenge another person’s eligibility to vote at the polls.
The result is that, in Virginia, the mechanism for challenging a voter’s qualifications at the polling place no longer exists, even as new state guidance lays out detailed steps for election officials to monitor and limit federal personnel on Election Day.
Federal law enforcement retains authority to enforce federal election laws, and the bulletin does not claim otherwise. It remains to be seen how the new state guidance will play out in practice should federal monitors or agents appear at Virginia polling sites this November.
Add comment