Some Republican-led states refuse to let Justice Department monitors
into polling places
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[November 05, 2024]
By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and JIM SALTER
WASHINGTON (AP) — Some Republican-led states say they will block the
Justice Department's election monitors from going inside polling places
on Election Day, pushing back on federal authorities' decades-long
practice of watching for violations of federal voting laws.
Officials in Florida and Texas have said they won't allow federal
election monitors into polling sites on Tuesday. And on Monday, Missouri
filed a lawsuit seeking a court order to block federal officials from
observing inside polling places. Texas followed with a similar lawsuit
seeking to permanently bar federal monitoring of elections in the state.
The Justice Department announced last week that it's deploying election
monitors in 86 jurisdictions across 27 states on Election Day. The
Justice Department declined to comment on the moves by the
Republican-led states, but filed court papers urging the judge to deny
Missouri's request.
The race between Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and Republican nominee
Donald Trump is a dead heat, and both sides are bracing for potential
legal challenges to vote tallies. The Justice Department’s election
monitoring effort, a long practice under both Democratic and Republican
administrations, is meant to ensure that federal voting rights are being
followed.
Here's a look at election monitors and the states' actions:
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Who are the election monitors?
Election monitors are lawyers who work for the Justice Department,
including in the civil rights division and 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 members to monitor polling places across the country
in both federal and non-federal elections. The monitors are tasked with
ensuring compliance with federal voting rights laws.
The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division enforces a number of
statutes protecting the right to vote. That includes the Voting Rights
Act, which prohibits intimidation and threats against those who are
casting ballots or counting votes. And it includes the Americans with
Disabilities Act, which mandates that election officials ensure people
with disabilities have the full and equal opportunity to vote.
“The Department of Justice has a nearly 60-year history of addressing
Election Day issues to safeguard the voting rights of Black citizens and
other communities of color," said Edward Casper, acting co-chief counsel
at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “While some recent
efforts to interfere in this process may appear more bark than bite,
they still pose a real threat to civil rights enforcement,” he said.
Where are election monitors being sent?
The 86 jurisdictions that the Justice Department will send monitors to
on Tuesday include Maricopa County, Arizona and Fulton County, Georgia,
which in 2020 became the center of election conspiracy theories spread
by Trump and other Republicans. Another place on the list is Portage
County, Ohio, where a sheriff came under fire for a social media post in
which he said people with Harris yard signs should have their addresses
recorded so that immigrants can be sent to live with them if the
Democrat wins the presidency.
Other areas where federal monitors will be sent include Detroit; Queens,
New York; Providence, Rhode Island; Jackson County, South Dakota; Salem,
Massachusetts; Milwaukee; Manassas, Virginia; Cuyahoga County, Ohio; and
Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska. The Justice Department’s monitors will
be in St. Louis, four jurisdictions in Florida and eight jurisdictions
in Texas.
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What's happening in Missouri?
In filing the lawsuit 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 “permits only certain categories of
persons to be present in voting locations, including voters, minor
children accompanying voters, poll workers, election judges, etc." and
not federal officials.
The Justice Department also sought to monitor polling places in Missouri
in 2022. The agency planned to have officials at Cole County, which
includes Jefferson City, the state capital. County Clerk Steve Korsmeyer
said he wouldn’t let them in if they show up.
The federal agency backed down 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 Monday with the St. Louis Board of Election
Commissioners.
In court papers filed late Monday, the Justice Department said it has
authority to conduct monitoring there under a settlement agreement with
the St. Louis Board aimed at ensuring people with mobility and vision
impairments can access polling places. The settlement was reached in
2021 under Trump's Justice Department after federal officials found
problems, such as ramps that were too steep and inaccessible parking,
according to the court papers. The settlement, which expires next year,
says the board must “cooperate fully” with Justice Department's efforts
to monitor compliance, “including but not limited to providing the
United States with timely access to polling places (including on
Election Day).”
The Justice Department said an attorney and investigator from its
Disability Rights Section are in St. Louis to inspect for accessibility
issues Tuesday. The department has carried out such inspections under
the settlement agreement on “multiple occasions,” including in the April
local elections, government lawyers said in court documents.
What are the other states saying?
In a letter to the Justice Department on Friday, Texas Secretary of
State Jane Nelson said wrote, “Texas law is clear: Justice Department
monitors are not permitted inside polling places where ballots are being
cast or a central counting station where ballots are being counted.”
“Texas has a robust processes and procedures in place to ensure that
eligible voters may participate in a free and fair election," Nelson
wrote.
In a similar letter Friday, Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd told
the Justice Department that Florida law lists who is allowed inside the
state's polling places and Justice Department officials are not
included. Byrd said Florida is sending its own monitors to the four
jurisdictions the Justice Department plans to send staff to and they
will “ensure there is no interference with the voting process.”
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Associated Press writer Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee contributed
reporting, Salter reported from O’Fallon, Missouri.
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