WASHINGTON (AP) — Some Republican-led states say they will block Justice Department election observers from entering polling places on Election Day, pushing back against federal authorities. a practice of several decades to monitor violations of federal election laws.

Officials in Florida And Texas said they would not allow federal election observers into polling locations on Tuesday. And on Monday, Missouri filed a lawsuit seeking a court order to prevent federal officials from observing inside polling places. Texas followed with a similar lawsuit seeking to permanently ban federal oversight of elections in the state.

The Justice Department announced last week that it was deploying election observers in 86 jurisdictions in 27 states on election day. The Justice Department declined to comment on actions taken by Republican-led states, but filed court papers urging the judge to deny Missouri’s request.

The race between the Democratic candidates Kamala Harris and Republican candidate Donald Trump It’s an impasse, and both sides are bracing for possible legal challenges over the vote count. The Justice Department’s election oversight effort, a long-standing practice under both Democratic and Republican administrations, aims to ensure that federal voting rights are respected.

Here’s a look at election observers and state actions:

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Who are the election observers?

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

For decades, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has sent lawyers and staffers to monitor polling places across the country in federal and non-federal elections. Observers are responsible for ensuring compliance with federal voting rights laws.

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

“The Department of Justice has addressed Election Day issues for nearly 60 years to protect the voting rights of Black citizens and other communities of color,” said Edward Casper, co-chief counsel for Acting Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Law. “While some recent attempts to interfere in this process may appear more barking than biting, they nevertheless pose a real threat to civil rights,” he said.

Where are election observers sent?

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

Other areas where federal observers will be sent include Detroit; Queens, New York; Providence, Rhode Island; Jackson County, South Dakota; Salem, Mass.; Milwaukee; Manassas, Virginia; Cuyahoga County, Ohio; and the Northwest Arctic District of Alaska. Justice Department observers will be in St. Louis, four Florida jurisdictions and eight Texas jurisdictions.

What is happening in Missouri?

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

The lawsuit says Missouri law “only allows certain categories of persons to be present at polling places, including voters, minor children accompanying voters, poll workers, election judges, and others.” » and not federal officials.

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

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

In court papers filed Monday evening, the Justice Department said it had the authority to conduct surveillance there under a settlement agreement with the St. Louis Board of Trustees aimed at ensuring that people in reduced mobility and visually impaired people can access voting places. The settlement was reached in 2021 at the direction of Trump’s Justice Department after federal officials discovered problems, such as ramps that were too steep and inaccessible parking, according to court documents. The agreement, which expires next year, states that the board must “cooperate fully” with the Department of Justice’s efforts to monitor compliance, “including, but not limited to, providing the United States with timely access to voting locations (including on Election Day).”

The Justice Department said a lawyer and an investigator from its Disability Rights Section were in St. Louis on Tuesday to inspect accessibility issues. The department conducted such inspections as part of the settlement agreement on “multiple occasions,” including during the April local elections, government lawyers said in court documents.

What are other states saying?

In a letter to the Justice Department on Friday, Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson said: “Texas law is clear: Department of Justice observers are not permitted inside the premises where ballots are cast or at a central counting office where ballots are counted. »

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

In a similar letter Friday, Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd told the Justice Department that Florida law lists who is allowed to enter the state’s polling places and that department officials of Justice are not included. Byrd said Florida is sending its own observers to the four jurisdictions the Justice Department plans to send staff to and that they “will ensure that there is no interference with the voting process.” .

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

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