Northeastern Law’s Criminal Justice Task Force Publishes Poll Monitoring Guidance

9.21.26 — Ahead of a tense 2026 midterm election season, Northeastern Law’s Criminal Justice Task Force at the Center for Law, Equity and Race (CLEAR) is providing a new legal playbook: a memorandum showing poll monitors exactly how to document — and help prosecute — voter intimidation, including potential misconduct by federal officers, at polling places across the state. The memo comes amid heightened concern about federal interference in state and local elections and the role immigration enforcement agents and armed civilian groups could play at or near polling sites and includes a visual training appendix to help observers distinguish state and local police from federal immigration officers and identify known paramilitary group symbols.

“The freedom to vote means more than simply having a ballot available. It means being able to cast that ballot without fear,” said Professor Emerita Deborah Ramirez, founder of the Criminal Justice Task Force, who co-authored the memo with Sofia Partida ’28, Madeline Haefele ’28 and Max Reese, a student at New England Law. “Voter intimidation is not simply inappropriate behavior at a polling place — it can undermine the fundamental right to participate freely in an election.”

Key Findings and Recommendations in the memo:

• Legal framework: The memo reviews federal statutes barring the deployment of federal agents to polling places absent extraordinary circumstances (18 U.S.C. §§ 592, 594, 595), the Voting Rights Act's prohibition on voter intimidation, and Massachusetts's own voter intimidation and anti-paramilitary laws.
• State prosecution of federal officers: The memo explains that state prosecutors retain limited authority to charge federal officers under state criminal law when those officers exceed what is "authorized" and "necessary and proper" under federal law — meaning documentation of officer conduct is central to overcoming claims of Supremacy Clause immunity.
• Training recommendations: The memo recommends Massachusetts poll observer training be strengthened to help observers (1) recognize signs of voter intimidation, including subtler forms like excessive voter challenges or aggressive questioning; (2) identify federal immigration officers, who often lack standardized uniforms; (3) recognize paramilitary and extremist group insignia; and (4) properly collect written, photographic, and video evidence within the legal limits governing poll observers.
• Evidence collection guidance: The memo provides a detailed list of investigative questions poll monitors should be prepared to answer to assist attorneys building voter intimidation cases, along with practical guidance on safely and lawfully recording potential misconduct.

For more information, contact Nicole Loonstyn at [email protected].

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