Judge Reggie Walton let the Justice Department deploy about 1,000 Election Day poll monitors but ordered that they be administrative or clerical staff, not sworn law enforcement officers.
The order requires monitors to be unarmed, out of uniform, and stripped of federal insignia or arrest powers after the NAACP argued their presence could intimidate voters and violate the Voting Rights Act.
Walton said the current record did not show the NAACP was likely to win a bid to block the program, citing DOJ assurances that agents from agencies such as ATF, DEA and the Bureau of Prisons would be excluded.
Monitors also cannot interfere with voters or election officials, may not speak with voters inside polling places, and can approach voters outside only after ballots are cast.
By 7 a.m. ET Tuesday, the DOJ must file a status report explaining how it verified that no monitor has law-enforcement status or arrest authority.