Federal election monitors draw no complaints during Michigan primary

Federal monitors from the U.S. Department of Justice observed Michigan's primary election Tuesday in Detroit, Lansing, East Lansing and Hamtramck without disrupting voting, according to election officials in those communities.

The monitors, typically DOJ attorneys, have observed Michigan elections under both Republican and Democratic administrations, though this year's visit drew more scrutiny amid President Donald Trump's focus on election administration and calls from Michigan Republicans for oversight of state elections. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said the monitors' mandate was to look for problems with election integrity, though it was not clear Tuesday whether any were found.

Officials described the monitors as polite and unobtrusive, asking occasional questions about assistive voting technology and provisional ballots. Detroit's director of elections, Daniel Baxter, said there were no real issues. A precinct chair in Hamtramck and Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum also reported no problems, though Byrum said the DOJ's decision to send monitors and request documents had cast doubt on the cities' 2024 election administration, allegations local officials have denied.

A spokesperson for the Michigan attorney general's office said the uneventful monitoring raised no concerns heading into the November election. The Department of Justice also sent monitors to observe Arizona's primary in July, with similarly uneventful results.

Read the full story at votebeat.org.