更新时间：2026年3月12日 / 美国东部时间下午6:19 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
白宫正考虑终止一项长期民权选举项目的资金支持，该项目旨在保护少数族裔的投票权，知情人士向哥伦比亚广播公司新闻透露。
这项由《选举权法案》授权、1966年启动的联邦监督项目，由人事管理局（OPM）负责运作，并与司法部合作，派遣中立的第三方观察员监测选举站点，确保选民不会因种族、语言障碍或残障等原因在投票站遭遇歧视。
这些观察员由人事管理局招募和培训，他们将在不干预投票过程的前提下进行观察、聆听并记录笔记，之后将调查结果提交给司法部民权司。
消息人士称，白宫正在探讨削减该项目开支的可能性。这一讨论正值美国为今年11月决定国会控制权的关键中期选举做准备之际。
随着共和党人担忧可能失去对众议院或参议院的控制权，特朗普总统正受到极右翼活动人士的游说，他们敦促他宣布全国紧急状态，以加强联邦政府对美国选举的控制权。
与此同时，据知情人士透露，司法部民权司正在起诉二十多个州，试图获取敏感的选民名单数据，国土安全部希望利用这些数据开展刑事和移民执法工作。
一位前联邦官员表示，联邦监督项目成本相对较低——国会每年为此拨款数百万美元。
人事管理局一位官员证实该项目正在接受评估，并指出自2013年以来，仅在法院命令要求的少数地点使用过该项目。据该官员称，向这些地点派遣观察员的成本已从约220万美元上升至250万美元。
白宫将对哥伦比亚广播公司新闻的置评请求转交给了司法部。
《选举权法案》于1965年颁布，旨在防止长期存在歧视性选举做法的州剥夺主要是黑人选民的选举权。
最初，司法部通过一个公式来确定哪些州和市有歧视性做法的历史，符合条件的地区在修改任何选举法之前必须获得司法部的预先批准。
根据哥伦比亚广播公司新闻看到的数据，司法部曾在选举日向全国100多个县派遣人事管理局培训的联邦观察员。一位前联邦官员告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻，在2012年选举期间，超过1000名联邦观察员被派往美国各地的投票站。
2013年最高法院对”谢比洛诉霍尔德案”的裁决大幅削弱了该法律的大部分内容，该裁决认定司法部用于确定哪些州或县有歧视历史的公式已过时且违宪。
这一裁决反过来严重阻碍了司法部执行该法案条款的能力。
如今，在没有能力审查可能具有歧视性的新选举法生效前，司法部或法律倡导团体等私人方必须在这些法律通过后尝试对其提起诉讼。
目前，只有在法院有命令的情况下，联邦观察员才可能被派往相关管辖区。
目前只有少数几项法院命令要求使用联邦观察员：新泽西州联合县、罗德岛州普罗维登斯、以及阿拉斯加的两个农村地区。
一位前联邦官员称，2016年超过300名联邦观察员被派往投票站，而2024年举行的选举中约使用了250名。
自该法院裁决以来，司法部严重依赖其自身的选举监督项目，即在不具备派遣联邦观察员条件的投票站派遣民权司的律师。
司法部发言人表示，该部门没有计划终止其民权司自身的监督项目。
“司法部致力于确保我们的选举保持自由、公平和透明，且没有计划终止其监督项目，该项目对于评估全国各地对联邦投票权法的遵守情况至关重要，”发言人说。
如果白宫取消对联邦观察员项目的资金支持，将进一步打击司法部根据《选举权法案》保护美国人权利的能力。
尽管司法部有自身的选举监督项目，但联邦观察员项目在历史上一直是一个受青睐的方法，原因有几个：
首先，联邦观察员被视为中立方，不属于司法部中就投票权问题起诉县和州的部门。
其次，根据法律，联邦观察员被允许进入投票站内部。
近年来，得克萨斯州和佛罗里达州等共和党控制的州拒绝允许司法部选举监督员进入投票站。
此外，即使司法部民权司人员配置完整，该部门往往缺乏足够的人力来覆盖所有选举监督工作，因此不得不从其他部门寻求志愿者，知情人士称。
目前，民权司的人员规模已较历史水平下降了75%以上。
White House mulls defunding civil rights election observer program that aims to protect minority voting rights, sources say
Updated on: March 12, 2026 / 6:19 PM EDT / CBS News
The White House is considering ending funding for a longtime civil rights election program aimed at protecting the rights of minority populations to vote, sources familiar with the matter tell CBS News.
The federal observer program, authorized under the Voting Rights Act and launched in 1966, is an Office of Personnel Management operation that partners with the Justice Department to send neutral, third-party observers to monitor election sites to ensure voters don’t experience discrimination at the polls — whether it’s due to race, language barriers or disabilities.
The observers, who are both recruited and trained by the Office of Personnel Management, are expected to watch, listen and take notes without interfering in the voting process. Those observers then turn over their findings to the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
The White House is exploring whether to cut spending for the program, sources say, in a discussion that comes as the country gears up for crucial midterm elections this November that will determine which party controls Congress.
As Republicans worry about the prospect of losing control of the House or Senate, President Trump is being lobbied by far-right activists who are encouraging him to declare a national emergency in order to assert federal control over voting in America.
At the same time, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is suing more than two dozen states in a bid to collect sensitive voter roll data that the Department of Homeland Security wants to use for criminal and immigration enforcement efforts, according to sources with direct knowledge of the matter.
The federal observer program is relatively inexpensive — Congress allocates several million dollars for it each year, a former federal official said.
An OPM official confirmed the program is being evaluated, noting that it has only been used at a handful of locations since 2013 that are under a court order to do so. The cost to send observers to those locations has risen from about $2.2 million to $2.5 million, the official said.
The White House referred CBS News’ request for comment to the Justice Department.
The Voting Rights Act was enacted in 1965 to prevent states with a long history of discriminatory election practices from disenfranchising primarily Black voters.
Originally the Justice Department used a formula to determine which states and municipalities had a history of discriminatory practices. Those who met the criteria were then required by the law to obtain preclearance from the Justice Department before making changes to any of its voting laws.
At one time, the Justice Department sent OPM-trained federal observers to over 100 counties across the nation on Election Day, according to data seen by CBS News. During the 2012 elections, more than 1,000 federal observers were sent to polling sites across America, a former federal official told CBS News.
A large portion of the law was gutted by a 2013 Supreme Court decision, Shelby County v. Holder, which found that the formula used by the Justice Department to ascertain which states or counties had a history of discrimination was outdated and unconstitutional.
That decision in turn has substantially hindered the Justice Department’s ability to enforce its provisions.
Without the ability to review potentially discriminatory new voting laws from going into effect, the Justice Department or private parties such as legal advocacy groups must now rely on trying to litigate them after they’ve been passed.
Now, federal observers may only be sent into jurisdictions in which there is a court order.
There are only a few court orders in effect that call for the use of federal observers: Union County, New Jersey, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and two areas in rural Alaska.
In 2016, more than 300 federal observers were dispatched to polling places, while approximately 250 were used during elections that took place in 2024, the former federal official said.
Since that court decision, the Justice Department has heavily relied on its own election-monitoring program, in which it sends lawyers from the Civil Rights Division to polling places that are not eligible for the assignment of federal observers.
A Justice Department spokesperson said the department has no plans to end its own monitoring program in the Civil Rights Division.
“The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring our elections remain free, fair, and transparent, and has no plans to end its monitorship program which is integral to assessing compliance with federal voting rights laws across the country,” the spokesperson said.
If the White House eliminates funding for the federal observer program, it will strike another blow to the department’s ability to protect Americans’ rights under the Voting Rights Act.
Despite the existence of the Justice Department’s own election monitoring program, the federal observer program has historically been a favored approach for a few reasons.
First, federal observers are regarded as neutral and do not work for the Justice Department section that also litigates against counties and states over voting rights issues.
And by law, federal observers are allowed to be located inside polling places.
In recent years, Republican-controlled states, like Texas and Florida, have refused to permit Justice Department election monitors to enter polling sites.
Further, even when the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division was fully staffed, it often lacked the manpower to cover all of its election-monitoring, forcing the department to seek volunteers elsewhere in the department, according to sources with direct knowledge of the matter.
At this point, the Civil Rights Division now has lost more than 75% of its historic staffing levels.