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NEW YORK — <\/span>Democrats and outside watchdogs are planning a massive presence at the polls on Election Day driven by concerns that President Donald Trump will further leverage the vast resources of the federal government to interfere with a midterm<\/a> that could hobble his final two years in office.<\/p>\n They won’t be the only ones there. A sprawling election protection effort on the left that is expected to deploy tens of thousands of monitors will be met by the largest-ever monitoring program by the Justice Department<\/a> and still more observers from Republican-aligned groups. The result could be unlike anything seen at the polls in modern times.<\/p>\n The effort among Democratic and nonprofit groups includes training volunteers<\/a> to stand watch outside polling places and report activities they consider concerning. The network includes traditional government watchdogs such as Common Cause and the American Civil Liberties Union plus a flood of volunteers assembled by state Democratic parties, congressional leaders, national activist groups and organizations focused on protecting democracy.<\/p>\n The Democratic National Committee created a first-of-its-kind cybersecurity unit staffed by former CIA and FBI officials to monitor and report online misinformation, including artificial intelligence deepfakes<\/a>, said Jane Kleeb, vice chair of the DNC. <\/p>\n That’s as Democratic mayors, attorneys general and secretaries of state host tabletop exercises simulating worst-case scenarios, such as a surge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials at voting locations or the seizure of ballots and voting equipment<\/a>.<\/p>\n On Capitol Hill, Democratic leaders have assembled a legal team that rivals that of any presidential campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve never done this before,\u201d Kleeb said of the party\u2019s sweeping efforts. But \u201cwe\u2019ve never had to deal with the president of the United States saying that he may seize ballots, put ICE agents outside polling locations and other kinds of very clear direct threats to the voting process.\u201d<\/p>\n The Department of Justice has already filed lawsuits in California<\/a> and Alaska that could affect ballot counting or certification<\/a>.<\/p>\n While Trump continues to make baseless allegations of cheating in the election, administration and military officials<\/a> have said they have no plans to deploy immigration agents<\/a> or troops to polling sites.<\/p>\n White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis blamed \u201cradical Democrats\u201d for creating fears about election security by refusing to enact voter ID requirements and other Republican-backed measures.<\/p>\n \u201cPresident Trump has done more than any other president to ensure we have free and fair elections,\u201d Bis said.<\/p>\n State Democratic parties have trained an estimated 10,000 volunteers to observe polling places and report anything potentially concerning they might see from federal agents. Common Cause has trained roughly 16,000 more volunteers to stand watch at voting precincts, said Suzanne Almeida, vice president of states for the group.<\/p>\n She said a broader Election Protection coalition involving 300 other groups has trained tens of thousands more.<\/p>\n Smaller pockets of volunteers from other groups also are preparing to show up, including roughly 100 organized by Senate Democrats and hundreds more from a Democratic-allied group called Save America, which is training clergy members, veterans, teachers and other local community members. National groups such as Indivisible and MoveOn are activating their own expansive networks.<\/p>\n There are so many organizations working to protect the voting process \u2014 including many that cannot legally coordinate with each other \u2014 that some officials involved worry about unintentionally creating chaos outside polling locations.<\/p>\n Almeida said Election Day confusion is possible in some precincts but the nature of the threat requires a collective effort.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will actually take all of us if some of the threats we are most worried about come to pass,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Harmeet Dhillon, a Trump appointee who leads the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division<\/a>, was asked on CBS\u2019 \u201c60 Minutes\u201d whether the Republican administration is planning to send ICE agents to polling places.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no plan to do that,\u201d she responded.<\/p>\n Still, the Justice Department is planning its largest-ever election monitoring effort, with about 1,000 department staff expected to observe voting and ensure federal laws are being followed, spokesperson Kiersten Pels said. That comes after a primary season in which the department said it deployed more than 100 election monitors across hundreds of polling locations.<\/p>\n