Some Republican-led states refuse to let Justice Department monitors into polling places

WASHINGTON — Some Republican-led states say they will block Justice Department election monitors from entering polling places on Election Day, pushing back federal authorities. decades of practice of watching for violations of federal voting laws.

Officials inside Florida And Texas have said they will not allow federal election observers into polling places on Tuesday. And on Monday, Missouri filed a federal lawsuit seeking an injunction to block federal officials from observing polling places.

The Justice Department announced last week that it would deploy election observers 86 jurisdictions in 27 states on election day. The Justice Department declined to comment Monday on the Missouri lawsuit and the moves by other Republican-led states.

The race between Democratic candidates Kamala Harris and Republican candidate Donald Trump is a dead heat, and both parties are bracing for potential legal challenges to the vote. The Justice Department’s election monitoring activities, a longstanding practice under both Democratic and Republican administrations, are intended to ensure compliance with federal voting rights.

Here’s a look at election monitors and the states’ actions:

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Election monitors are attorneys who work for the Justice Department, including in the civil rights division and at U.S. attorney’s offices across the country. They are not law enforcement officers or federal agents.

For decades, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has sent attorneys and staff to monitor polling places across the country in both federal and non-federal elections. The monitors are charged with ensuring compliance with federal voting rights laws.

The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division enforces a number of laws that protect voting rights. This includes the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits intimidation and threats against those who cast ballots or count votes. And it includes the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires election officials to ensure that people with disabilities have the full and equal opportunity to vote.

The 86 jurisdictions the Justice Department will send observers to on Tuesday include Maricopa County, Arizona And Fulton County, Georgia, which became the center of election conspiracy theories spread by Trump and other Republicans in 2020. Another place on the list is Portage County, Ohio, where a sheriff came under fire message on social media in which he said people with Harris yard signs should have their addresses registered so that immigrants can be sent to them if the Democrat wins the presidency

Other areas where federal monitors will be sent include Detroit, Michigan; Queens, New York; Providence, Rhode Island; Jackson County, South Dakota; Salem, MA; Milwaukee, Wis.; Manassas, Virginia; Cuyahoga County, Ohio and Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska. The Justice Department observers will be in St. Louis, Missouri; four jurisdictions in Florida and eight jurisdictions in Texas.

In filing the lawsuit on Monday, Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft said state law “clearly and specifically limits who may be in polling places.” He also accused the federal government of “attempting to illegally interfere in Missouri’s elections.”

The lawsuit states that Missouri law “allows only certain categories of persons to be present at voting locations, including voters, minor children accompanying voters, poll workers, election judges, etc.,” and not federal officials.

The Justice Department also attempted to monitor polling places in Missouri in 2022. The agency planned to have officers in Cole County, which includes Jefferson City, the state capital. County Clerk Steve Korsmeyer had said he wouldn’t let them in if they showed up.

The federal agency withdrew after Ashcroft showed Justice Department officials the state law, Ashcroft said. He says the Justice Department is now “trying to go through the back door” by contacting local election officials for access.

Messages were left with the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners on Monday.

The St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners reached a settlement with the Justice Department in 2021 to ensure people with mobility and visual impairments have access to polling places after federal officials discovered problems such as steep slopes and inaccessible parking, according to the court papers. The settlement, which expires next year, says the administration must “fully cooperate” with the Justice Department’s efforts to monitor compliance, “including but not limited to providing the United States with timely access to polling places (also on election day).”

In a letter to the Justice Department Friday, Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson wrote: “Texas law is clear: Department of Justice monitors are not permitted at polling places where ballots are being cast or at a central counting station where the ballots are counted. ”

“Texas has robust processes and procedures in place to ensure eligible voters can participate in free and fair elections,” Nelson wrote.

In a similar letter, Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd told the Justice Department on Friday that Florida law specifies who is allowed into the state’s polling places and does not include Justice Department officials. Byrd said Florida is sending its own observers to the four jurisdictions where the Justice Department plans to send personnel and that they will “ensure there is no interference with the voting process.”

__ Associated Press writer Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee contributed reporting, Salter reported from O’Fallon, Missouri.