The U.S. Department of Justice plans to send about 1,000 election monitors across the country for Tuesday's midterms, and Shelby County is among the places they are headed, according to a report by Action 5 News in Memphis that was cited in the Tennessee Lookout's election-eve newsletter.
The Lookout noted that another federal presence in Shelby County is not a surprise. Federal and state agencies have been working in the county for more than a year as part of the Memphis Safe Task Force.
Why Memphis is in the spotlight
The Memphis-based 9th Congressional District was reshaped in a spring redistricting led by Republicans in the state legislature, and the Lookout describes it as likely to be the closest congressional race in Tennessee. The district historically covered most of Memphis. Under the new map it stretches from the Memphis airport along the southern border of the state and up into part of Williamson County.
Democratic state Rep. Justin Pearson is running to keep the seat in Democratic hands against Republican state Sen. Brent Taylor. The Lookout reports that Shelby County's early vote reached 183,896, about 2.5 percent below the 2018 total and more than 52 percent above 2022. Fayette County, which is partly in the district, topped its 2018 early vote by less than half a percent with 9,593 voters.
What monitors do
Election monitors observe how voting is conducted at polling places. The reports cited here do not say what the Justice Department's monitors will do in Shelby County, which sites they will visit, or what authority they will have. Tennessee voters will still cast ballots through the state's usual process.
Reminders for voters
Polls in Tennessee open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. Central time on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Voters who are in line at closing may stay and vote. Bring a valid photo ID. Counties have until Nov. 23 to certify results.
Sources: Tennessee Lookout, Action 5 News as cited by Tennessee Lookout