While this is common practice for the department, this year’s deployment is not as extensive as the one from the 2016 election, when personnel were sent to 67 jurisdictions across 28 states.

However, the Justice Department plans to observe twice as many Michigan cities as it did four years ago.

On Tuesday, personnel will be sent to Detroit, Eastpointe, Flint, Hamtramck, Highland Park, Jackson and Shelby Township. That compares to only Detroit, Hamtramck and Dearborn Heights in 2016.

When asked why there is a greater focus on Michigan this year, a spokesperson for the department told Newsweek, “Every federal election year, the Department makes a new assessment of where the Department should be, and sends out staff based on that assessment for that year.”

“Our federal laws protect the right of all American citizens to vote without suffering discrimination, intimidation, and harassment,” said Eric Dreiband, Assistant Attorney General for the civil rights division, in a press release Monday. “The work of the Civil Rights Division around each federal general election is a continuation of its historical mission to ensure that all of our citizens can freely exercise this most fundamental American right.”

As of Friday, more than 2.5 million Michigan voters had cast their ballot ahead of this year’s presidential election, according to the U.S. Elections Project.

The battleground state will likely again be key to securing a path to the White House, whether for President Donald Trump or Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

In 2016, Trump unexpectedly won the state by a very narrow margin of 0.3 percentage point—the narrowest margin of victory in Michigan’s presidential election history and the narrowest of any state in that election.

According to Five Thirty Eight, Biden is currently leading in Michigan with an 8.1 point lead over the president.

The coronavirus pandemic has heightened tensions in Michigan, leading to both a surge in early mail-in voting as well as a standoff between the state’s Democratic governor and residents who want the state to reopen at full capacity.

Earlier this year, Governor Gretchen Whitmer made national headlines after she imposed one of the strictest lockdown measures in the country—a decision met with intense backlash and armed protests. Last month, the FBI found Whitmer to be the target of a kidnapping plot due to her response to the ongoing health crisis.

The ongoing turmoil in Michigan has led to fears of voter-intimidation tactics at polling sites on Tuesday.

Last week, a judge blocked Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s ban on the open carrying of firearms within 100 feet of polling places in Michigan.

“There are dozens—we’ve had numerous complaints,” Assistant Attorney General Heather Meingast told Judge Christopher Murray. “There are voters who are afraid. There are election workers who are afraid to go to work on Election Day.”

However, Murray said the order exceeded Benson’s authority.

Benson has warned Michiganders to “be prepared for this to be closer to an election week as opposed to an Election Day.” The state’s 1,520 local election clerks will not be able to count a single absentee ballot until Tuesday.

The Justice Department will also be monitoring voting compliance in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin on November 3.

Newsweek reached out to Benson’s office for comment but did not hear back before publication.

Update 11/02/20 1:41 p.m. ET: This story was updated with comment from the Department of Justice.