Minnehaha County is among the jurisdictions where the Trump Department of “Justice” is sending goons to patrol election places next Tuesday:
The South Dakota Secretary of State’s Office has received notification from the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division of its intent to send federal election monitors to Minnehaha County during the November 3rd, 2026, General Election.
According to the DOJ, the purpose of the monitoring is to observe election procedures and assess compliance with federal voting rights laws. These include the Voting Rights Act, the Help America Vote Act, and other federal laws intended to protect voting rights and ensure accessibility.
The DOJ has indicated that its monitors will observe and take notes without interfering in the voting process. Monitors will identify themselves to election officials, follow state and local election laws, and report any concerns through their designated DOJ leadership. The DOJ has also stated that its monitors will not speak to voters inside polling places or carry firearms.
Under South Dakota Codified Law (SDCL) 12-18-9, members of the public are permitted to observe voting and counting activities at polling locations, provided they do not interfere with election operations. Federal DOJ personnel conducting election monitoring are subject to the same privileges and restrictions as other members of the public serving as poll observers.
All election observers are expected to respect voter privacy, comply with election laws, and refrain from interfering with election workers or the voting process. Any concerns regarding activities at a polling location should be directed to the precinct superintendent or appropriate election officials.
The Secretary of State’s Office remains committed to ensuring that South Dakota’s elections are conducted in a fair, secure, transparent, and orderly manner. The presence of federal election monitors does not change the responsibilities of local election officials or the procedures established under South Dakota law [Secretary of State’s Office, press release, posted by Dakota Broadcasting, 2026.10.26].
This arguably illegal deployment of federal agents to polling places in South Dakota and elsewhere represents a big expansion of federal intrusion in state-run elections, as the NAACP contends in a lawsuit seeking information on the DOJ’s plan:
“This unprecedented deployment of federal officials stands to jeopardize the election and interfere with the right of voters to participate in the election free from intimidation,” the NAACP wrote. “Courts have recognized that unnecessary law enforcement and government presence at polling sites can cause fear, create confusion, impose burdens on election officials, and have a chilling or coercive effect on the electorate.”
The lawsuit comes as the Trump administration prepares what Dhillon has described as the largest DOJ election monitoring deployment in history. The department plans to send about 1,000 personnel across the country — far more than the roughly 289 monitors dispatched during the 2022 midterms and the 714 sent during the 2024 presidential election [Yunior Rivas, “DOJ Sued for Records on ‘Unprecedented’ Plan to Deploy 1,000 Election Monitors in Midterms,” Democracy Docket, 2026.10.05].
Remember, this big federal government action is brought to you by Republicans who promise smaller government.
Don’t let G-men stand between you and your ballot. No matter who’s standing around at the polls, march right in and proudly cast your vote.
(And hey, if feds give you the willies, go vote early, before they arrive next Tuesday!)