Bennet Leads Delegation Members to Slam DOJ Election Monitoring Effort,  Demand Answers Regarding Proposed Deployment

Denver — Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, a member of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, which oversees federal elections, led members of the Colorado delegation, including Sen. John Hickenlooper and Reps. Neguse, Crow, Pettersen, and DeGette, slamming the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) attempt to send election monitors to Adams County.

“There is nothing routine or conventional about the DOJ’s approach to its election monitoring program this year. As you know, your Division has stated that it plans to position approximately 1,000 election monitors in all 50 states on Election Day. A deployment of that size would be the largest such observation effort in the Department’s history, and about triple the number deployed in the last midterm election. The Department also plans to assign criminal prosecutors as monitors, as opposed to the civil lawyers and support staff it has sent in the past. This is a significant break from historical practice, when DOJ refrained from sending prosecutors to polls given the understandable concern that their presence could chill protected activity – not least of which is the right to cast a ballot without fear of interference,” wrote the lawmakers. 

Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 requires counties to provide voters access to election materials in their spoken language. The Trump administration has indicated that it plans to use the law to identify counties with large non-English-speaking populations for increased scrutiny. Adams County, which is covered by Section 203, could face additional federal monitoring under this approach. A law designed to ensure voters can participate in elections in their language should not become a pretext for targeting the communities it protects.

“The Division’s deployment has not emerged in a vacuum. The Justice Department has sued states for their full and complete voter rolls, including confidential voter information – an unprecedented federal effort to seize sensitive state-level data. The President has issued an executive order to curtail mail-in voting, in an attempt to restrict access to the ballot. And the Department of Homeland Security has continued to push states to upload their voting rolls into the Department’s SAVE system, which has been transformed from a benefits-eligibility identifier to one purporting to verify citizenship – despite the system repeatedly flagging eligible voters as noncitizens. Colorado has been targeted in each of these actions, and is now being targeted again,” stated the lawmakers. 

“The integrity and security of Colorado’s elections are not in doubt. Colorado enjoys some of the highest voter turnout rates in the country, in part because Coloradans trust our electoral system – a trust that has been reinforced by regular post-election risk-limiting audits, which have been conducted in every Colorado election since 2017. Unlike those audits, the Department’s actions do nothing to enhance or support Colorado’s gold-standard election process, but instead risk impairing the free and fair conduct of elections in our state,” continued the lawmakers. 

Bennet has consistently fought against blatant efforts from the Trump administration and Republicans to undermine federal elections. In August 2026, Bennet joined U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and 26 Senate colleagues to demand the administration adhere to the National Voter Registration Act’s “quiet period” that prohibits large-scale voter purges within 90 days of an election. In May 2026, Bennet released a statement following the release of the U.S. Postal Service’s proposed rule that would implement part of President Trump’s executive order attacking mail in voting. In April 2026, Bennet joined Padilla and 36 of their colleagues to introduce the Mail and Absentee Voter Protection Act, legislation that would block Trump’s illegal and unconstitutional executive order that attacks Coloradans’ ability to cast mail-in ballots. In March 2026, Bennet condemned the SAVE America Act on the Senate floor and called out Trump for holding the Senate hostage to pass this legislation. 

In April 2025, he spoke on the Senate floor, calling out the SAVE Act that would make it harder for millions of American citizens to register and exercise their right to vote, including women and voters in rural communities across the country. In February 2025, Bennet slammed Trump for sowing distrust in elections. In July 2023, Bennet and his Democratic colleagues introduced the Freedom to Vote Act to improve Americans’ access to the ballot, invest in state election infrastructure, strengthen campaign finance disclosure requirements, and ensure our elections are free from interference.

The text of the letter is available HERE and below. 

Assistant Attorney General Dhillon:

We write with urgent questions regarding the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) decision to deploy election monitors from the Department’s Civil Rights Division (Division) to Adams County, Colorado. Recent reporting indicates the Division has deviated substantially from its traditional approach to election observation, raising serious concerns regarding the scope, nature, and pretence of this deployment. The Trump Administration has spent the last 18 months attempting to assert control over federal elections, in clear violation of the Constitution and state prerogatives. This latest action appears to be a clear continuation of those efforts, and risks intimidating Colorado voters and undermining Colorado’s elections. 

There is nothing routine or conventional about the DOJ’s approach to its election monitoring program this year. As you know, your Division has stated that it plans to position approximately 1,000 election monitors in all 50 states on Election Day. A deployment of that size would be the largest such observation effort in the Department’s history, and about triple the number deployed in the last midterm election. The Department also plans to assign criminal prosecutors as monitors, as opposed to the civil lawyers and support staff it has sent in the past. This is a significant break from historical practice, when DOJ refrained from sending prosecutors to polls given the understandable concern that their presence could chill protected activity – not least of which is the right to cast a ballot without fear of interference.

Although the Department’s Civil Rights Division regularly monitors compliance with federal voting rights laws, significant concerns have already been raised about the conduct of DOJ observers this election cycle. In Wyoming – where DOJ Civil Rights attorneys were sent to observe the August primaries – Republican Governor Mark Gordon expressed alarm about their “aggressive” and “irregular” behavior. The Republican county clerk of Wyoming’s Laramie County stated that the monitors “showed complete disregard for our state laws and administration of our elections.” This Division’s attorneys, already on notice for operating beyond their lawful remit, are now descending on Adams County. 

Moreover, the Division’s justification for sending election monitors to Adams County suggests a broader effort beyond the scope of the Department’s normal monitoring activities. The county is covered under Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which requires voters be given access to election materials in the language they speak. But this administration has already indicated that it intends to use Section 203 as a shortcut to identify counties with significant numbers of non-English-speaking voters – with the possibility of increased investigation and enforcement as a result, a treatment Adams County now appears subject to.  

The Division’s deployment has not emerged in a vacuum. The Justice Department has sued states for their full and complete voter rolls, including confidential voter information – an unprecedented federal effort to seize sensitive state-level data. The President has issued an executive order to curtail mail-in voting, in an attempt to restrict access to the ballot. And the Department of Homeland Security has continued to push states to upload their voting rolls into the Department’s SAVE system, which has been transformed from a benefits-eligibility identifier to one purporting to verify citizenship – despite the system repeatedly flagging eligible voters as noncitizens. Colorado has been targeted in each of these actions, and is now being targeted again. 

The integrity and security of Colorado’s elections are not in doubt. Colorado enjoys some of the highest voter turnout rates in the country, in part because Coloradans trust our electoral system – a trust that has been reinforced by regular post-election risk-limiting audits, which have been conducted in every Colorado election since 2017. Unlike those audits, the Department’s actions do nothing to enhance or support Colorado’s gold-standard election process, but instead risk impairing the free and fair conduct of elections in our state. 

This type of coordinated, bad-faith conduct subverts Congress’ and the states’ constitutional authority to regulate elections. The United States Department of Justice owes Coloradans answers about why federal officials are attempting to monitor our elections, and who those officials are. We expect responses to following questions by October 28, 2026:

1. Could you explain why the Department of Justice is assigning Criminal Division prosecutors to serve as election monitors in Colorado and across the country? 
2. Did the Department of Justice and the White House communicate about the planned deployment of election monitors? 
3. Did the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security communicate about the planned deployment of election monitors?
4. Does the Civil Rights Division plan to deploy additional election monitors to Colorado? If so, identify the counties.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter, and we look forward to reviewing your response. 

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