US midterms: FBI, ICE agents will not serve as election monitors, DOJ says

FBI agents will not be "monitoring" midterm polling booths The US Department of Justice said FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel will not serve as monitors during the November midterm elections, amid concerns from civil rights groups that the Trump administration’s plans for federal election oversight could intimidate voters.In a court filing late Wednesday in a lawsuit brought by the NAACP, the Justice Department said federal election monitors would observe polling places, take notes and would not act as law enforcement personnel, reported Reuters. They would also be prohibited from carrying firearms and have been trained not to interfere with voting or violate state and local rules, the filing said.While employees of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will serve as monitors, the department said neither FBI nor ICE employees would be deployed in that role.Concerns over the possible deployment of federal law enforcement officers at polling sites had grown in the run-up to the midterms. Last month, a coalition of civil rights groups led by the NAACP sued th...