Civil rights advocates plan to send thousands of observers to midterm polling places

For many election cycles, civil rights groups and political parties have fanned out to monitor polling places, but the charged midterm environment has many organizations stepping up efforts this year.

<img src='https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5248x3472+0+0/resize/5248x3472!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F71%2Fcf%2F94f63bcd4b4c985fb82d87b4ae26%2Fgettyimages-2298479519.jpg' alt='A voting center is seen in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Oct. 7, the first day of early voting.'/><p>For many election cycles, civil rights groups and political parties have fanned out to monitor polling places, but the charged midterm environment has many organizations stepping up efforts this year.</p><p>(Image credit: Olivier Touron)</p><img src='https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-5991802' />