With the midterms six days away, the Department of Justice plans to deploy roughly 1,000 election monitors across all 50 states, the largest monitoring operation in the department’s history. Several states are pushing back and sending their own observers to watch the federal monitors.

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From Liberty Nation:

While the DOJ has notified some states about where monitors will be sent, the full details won’t be disclosed until Election Day. Once on the ground, though, monitors will observe the voting process and report any potential election-related violations. The department is expected to target densely populated areas and locations with a history of election security issues.

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Both California and Minnesota are reportedly preparing to deploy their own observers, who will work in pairs and shadow the DOJ’s monitors. In Nevada, local police will remove DOJ monitors who break the rules or refuse to leave when asked, according to top election official Cisco Aguilar, a Democrat. Justice Department officials, however, have dismissed states’ concerns as nothing more than fear-mongering.

Kiersten Pels, a DOJ spokesperson, said the department is training its monitors not to disrupt the voting process. Monitors will concentrate on countering voter intimidation efforts while protecting access to the polls.

The deployment is roughly triple the federal presence of the last midterm. It is part of a broader push by the Trump administration on election integrity: officials have already requested voter-registration data from states and pressed them to adopt stricter security processes. Federal election monitoring itself is not new. The program has existed for decades to enforce civil rights laws, and even the left-leaning Campaign Legal Center credits it with uncovering instances of discrimination. The resistance has come from both parties, however. Some red and blue states argue the administration’s approach exceeds federal authority. California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, has gone further and accused the federal government of being “the source of interference.”

The primary season offered a preview. The DOJ monitored polling places in more than half a dozen states, and most deployments went smoothly. In Wyoming, however, Republican Gov. Mark Gordon described the monitors as “a bit aggressive” and “irregular.” U.S. Attorney for Wyoming Darin Smith said his office is working with local officials to protect every lawful vote. In Kentucky, where monitors are headed to Jefferson and Fayette counties, local election officials say state law will keep them at least 100 feet from polling sites. The DOJ has told the state its monitors will observe, take notes, and not interfere.

Let’s pray that every eligible American would be able to cast a ballot next Tuesday freely and without intimidation from any quarter. Let’s pray for the DOJ monitors, that they would carry out their work with integrity, respect state law, and bring any real fraud or wrongdoing into the light. Let’s pray for state and local election officials, that they would put an honest vote ahead of partisan suspicion and work in good faith with federal authorities. And let’s pray that the results of November 3 would be accurate, trusted, and accepted, and that the Lord would grant our nation peace through this election.

Is your state expecting DOJ monitors? Share your prayers for next Tuesday’s election in the comments.

(Excerpt from Liberty Nation. Photo Credit: Hill Street Studios/Getty Images)