DOJ sends election monitors to Miami-Dade for primary

• Assistant attorney general for civil rights Harmeet Dhillon told Bloomberg on Monday that about 1,000 monitors will be dispatched this November.
• The DOJ in a statement said its purpose in monitoring Miami-Dade polling places was "to ensure transparency, ballot security, and compliance with federal law."

Zoom in: On Tuesday, the DOJ announced it had assigned four Civil Rights Division attorneys to Miami-Dade County and two to Laramie County, Wyoming.

• In both counties, Republican voters outnumber Democrats.

By the numbers: So far during the primary season, the DOJ has sent 75 monitors to five states, according to the department.

• That has included Democratic-leaning areas in Michigan, Arizona and Minnesota, according to the Washington Post.
• In 2022, the DOJ was in nine states, including in Florida and Wyoming, the department said.

How it works: Dhillon told Bloomberg that in determining where to send election monitors in November, the DOJ would consider places with language or disability access issues, or "where there may be voter fraud issues that we've seen."

• Miami-Dade County, a former Democratic stronghold that flipped Republican in 2024, has a Democratic mayor and a majority-Hispanic population.

The intrigue: Federal election monitors are allowed inside polling places only with local authorization or a court order, according to NBC News.

• In 2022 and 2024 under then-President Biden, Florida officials pushed back on federal attempts to monitor polling places.

Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd did not respond to a request for comment.

Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Alina Garcia — a Republican endorsed by Trump in 2024 — tells Axios that DOJ monitors have not requested to be allowed inside any polling locations but that "this is a decision for the state."

• "We always welcome monitoring."