# DOJ Calls Virginia AG Jay Jones's Election Day Guidance 'Bluster and Political Posturing' Over Advice to Call Police if Federal Agents Approach Polls

Jones's 10-page bulletin tells local officials how to respond to federal agents and DOJ monitors. A DOJ spokesperson says monitors will do the same routine work as for decades. Virginia Republicans object.

- Section: [Politics](https://rightnewsrightnow.com/politics/)
- Published: 2026-10-28
- By: RightNewsRightNow Staff
- Canonical page: https://rightnewsrightnow.com/articles/doj-calls-virginia-ag-jay-jones-election-day-guidance-bluster-polling-places-federal-agents-fox-news/

The Justice Department is pushing back on Virginia's Democratic attorney general over how poll workers should treat federal agents on Election Day, Fox News reports.

The guidance. The Oct. 15 bulletin was issued by Attorney General Jay Jones's office and the Virginia Department of Elections. It runs 10 pages. It tells local officials to consult lawyers and set up contacts with local prosecutors and police ahead of time. It says to call local law enforcement if federal agents approach or enter a polling place, and to document what they do, while cautioning against physically obstructing them. It also says officials should call police "immediately" if an armed individual tries to enter a polling place.

On DOJ monitors. The bulletin says ordinary DOJ monitors need local authorization to enter polling places. It suggests registrars discuss the scope of any monitoring first and "consider asking whether DOJ is assessing compliance with civil or criminal federal laws." It also tells officials to prepare for possible federal subpoenas for ballots or voting equipment.

DOJ's response. A spokesperson told Fox the AG's actions "attack a strawman" and that "DOJ's election monitors will be engaging in the same routine monitoring we've done for decades." The spokesperson called the statement "bluster and political posturing." DOJ has said it plans to send monitors to Fairfax and Prince William counties.

Virginia Republicans. Del. Wren Williams said Jones "wants poll workers collecting ICE agents' badge numbers, but God forbid they verify a voter's ID." State Sen. Danny Diggs, a former York County sheriff, said that in 45 years in law enforcement he never saw an officer or official observer make a polling place less safe, and called the plan "reckless." Virginia Beach attorney Tim Anderson noted that this year's law eliminated Election Day challenges to individual voters' qualifications at the polls, and said the bulletin "identifies no specific planned unlawful federal operation in Virginia."

The records request. America First Legal told Fox it filed a public-records request Monday for the legal analysis and communications behind the bulletin, and for records on Jones's new Voter Protection Section.

Jones's side. In a statement about the new section, Jones said "the right to vote will be defended" in Virginia. Fox says it asked Jones's office and the state elections agency for comment on the critics. The report does not include a reply to those questions.

Note for readers: Virginia still requires voters to show ID or sign an identity confirmation statement. The DOJ and Republican comments are their own characterizations of the bulletin.

## Source

Original reporting: [Fox News](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/doj-fires-back-dem-ag-election-day-guidance-telling-officials-when-call-cops-federal-agents)