Minnesota is one of 27 states that will have federal monitors on Election Day. 

According to the Department of Justice, its Civil Rights Division is coordinating and will have monitors at 86 jurisdictions — in Minnesota, that will include Minneapolis and other cities in Hennepin and Ramsey Counties. 

As the agency in charge of enforcing federal voting rights, the DOJ says it regularly deploys staff to monitor compliance. 

“I would say that things are more heightened,” Kyle Loven, former FBI attorney of more than 20 years, said. “We definitely want to be on our toes with respect to any regularities.”

Loven feels Minnesota is one of the 27 states because of its high voter turnout. 

“It’s meant to assure the public that if there are irregularities, the DOJ is ready to look into those to make sure that that there have been no federal election laws broken,” Loven added. 

With election integrity and safety top of mind for many, election worker safety has been a big focus — including beefed up security at the polls, to added protections at ballot counting locations. In some cities, bulletproof glass and panic buttons have been installed. 

The FBI reports that over the last few years, there have been more than 2,000 threats made against election workers. 

Across the nation, there have been new procedures put in place for handling mail-in ballots — including having kits of Narcan, the medicine used to stop overdoses. 

According to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office, “Our federal law enforcement partners have shared that it is best practice to have Narcan/Naloxone on hand. As such, we have some in our office, and many local governments do as well.”

You can report a civil rights violation HERE.