by Natalia Mittelstadt
Several Republican-led states said they were banning U.S. Department of Justice election observers from polling places during the November general election after the agency sent observers to various states in the 2022 midterms.
When the Justice Department announced it was sending election observers to polling places in multiple states for the 2022 midterm elections, Florida and Missouri said department employees would not be allowed to observe the polls. Now eight other states have said they will not allow Justice Department election observers to enter polling places during the November election, and some say their ban prevents federal interference in the election.
The day before Election Day in November 2022 The Department of Justice announced that it sends election observers to 64 jurisdictions in 24 states.
During the 2020 election, the Department of Justice increased the number of jurisdictions it monitors from 44 jurisdictions in 18 states, Policy reported.
In the 2022 announcement. The Department of Justice explained“Since the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Civil Rights Division has regularly monitored elections in jurisdictions across the country to protect voters’ rights.”
When election observers were announced, three jurisdictions The Department of Justice said would visit counties in Florida.
Florida Department of State General Counsel Brad McVay wrote a letter to the Department of Justice saying the federal agency sent letters to three counties that “appeared to indicate that the Department of Justice would send observers inside polling stations in these counties [emphasis original]”
McVay explained that Florida law does not allow Justice Department employees to visit polling places. McVay also wrote that the Justice Department letters “do not detail the need for federal observers in these counties. None of the counties are currently subject to any federal consent decrees related to the election. None of the districts has been charged with violating the rights of linguistic or racial minorities, the elderly or the disabled.”
He added that Florida “will send its own observers to the three target jurisdictions.” Thanks to these monitors, there will be no disruptions in the voting process.”
Governor Ron DeSantis’ office he said Federalist last week that Florida’s statute remains unchanged “and Department of Justice personnel are not included on the list of persons permitted to enter any polling room or polling place.”
In the week before the 2022 election, the Department of Justice also contacted a Missouri county about sending election observers to polling places.
From the X (formerly Twitter) account of the Missouri Secretary of State: Reply by Jay Ashcroft to the Justice Department’s email, writing: “While the U.S. Department of Justice could learn a lot from Missouri about impartiality and how to conduct accessible, secure and reliable elections, it would be highly inappropriate for federal agents to break the law by intimidating Missouri voters with at the polls on election day.”
For the 2024 presidential election, all states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, South Dakota, Texas, and West Virginia have said that Department of Justice election observers will be you are not allowed to enter polling stations in their states on Election Day.
Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry (R) told Just the News in a statement Monday:
“According to the Supreme Court case Shelby County v. Holder, Louisiana is no longer subject to Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act. Accordingly, and pursuant to La. RS 18:1462(A)(2), Department of Justice election observers must follow the same rules as all other persons – they must remain at least 200 meters from any polling place. Because I oppose federal interference in elections, I will not invite the Department of Justice to send election observers to Louisiana.”
Nebraska’s secretary of state declined to comment because the Department of Justice has not announced election observers for this year’s general election.
According to Department of Justice Announcement on 2022 Election MonitoringOne of the jurisdictions where election observers were sent was Horry County, South Carolina. The South Carolina State Board of Elections told Just the News on Monday that it was “not aware that anything like this would happen in 2022.”
The commission added: “That said, South Carolina’s elections are transparent and we welcome every election observer to see for themselves why our elections were so successful. Anyone can observe election proceedings in South Carolina as long as they follow polling place rules (Follower-specific rules can be found on pages 6-9 of our survey manager guide).”
Office of Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders (right). told The Federalist that she “will not allow the Biden Department of Justice to inappropriately intimidate or unduly influence Arkansans at polling places in our state.”
Idaho government officials told The Federalist that there are “requirements and limitations” under state law for poll watchers, but that the state is “not aware of any requests to any county official or similar involvement by the Department of Justice here in Idaho.”
The North Dakota Secretary of State reported the matter that they “believe that ‘DoJ observers’ will be considered observers, as will all persons who wish to observe Election Day practices.”
Secretary of State of Ohio told the media that the state “will consider each application on a case-by-case basis.”
The said the Secretary of State of Vermont that there are “no special regulations, restrictions, or relief applicable to the Department of Justice that distinguish it from other observers.”
Secretary of State, New Hampshire Office gave a similar response to The Federalist: “The area beyond the polling station barrier is open to the public, including election observers. We have no laws or policies that prevent the public from observing our elections in public at a polling place.”
The secretaries of state from Alaska, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Nevada, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming did not provide comment by press time.
The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.
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Natalia Mittelstadt graduated from Regent University with a bachelor’s degree in communication and administration.
“Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft” photo by Secretary of State of Missouri. “Voting Booths” cover photo by Corey Seeman. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
