In a lawsuit announced Monday, Paxton, who is a Republican, argued that the Biden administration had no authority to send DOJ agents to oversee elections in eight Texas counties: Atascosa, Bexar, Dallas, Frio, Harris, Hays, Palo Pinto and Waller. The Texas election code does not include federal agents in the list of people allowed to be in the “central counting office during the counting of ballots,” the Republican lawmaker said.

“The Biden-Harris Administration’s campaign of unlawful intimidation undermines the constitutional authority of states to conduct free and fair elections,” Paxton wrote in a press release. “Texas will not be intimidated, and I will do everything possible to prevent armed federal agencies from interfering in our elections.”

LATEST DOJ SUIT: Today I sued the Biden-Harris administration and the U.S. Department of Justice for sending federal agents to “monitor” the Texas election without any legal authority and in violation of the state law. The Biden-Harris administration’s illegal intimidation… https://t.co/KXAMOQQvGr

– Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) November 5, 2024

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The lawsuit comes after the DOJ said Friday it would send election officials to the LoneStar State and 26 other states to “monitor compliance with federal voting rights laws.” As the agency’s decision comes just days before the election, DOJ agents should patrol polling locations in critical counties in each of the seven battleground states, as well as states like Texas, Missouri and Florida.

“Texas law is clear: Department of Justice observers are not allowed inside a polling place where ballots are cast or a central counting office where ballots are counted,” Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson said in a letter following the DOJ’s announcement.

Missouri and Florida have also pledged to oppose the DOJ’s new surveillance measures, argue in the same way In Paxton, state law “strictly limits” who is allowed to be present at polling places.

“The DOJ just doesn’t seem to get it – we don’t need them here; we don’t want them here,” Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft said. “This time, we are going further and filing a lawsuit against the DOJ to get them to stop the continued harassment.”

Meanwhile, Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd warned the Justice Department in a memo Friday that the presence of federal election observers “would be counterproductive and could potentially undermine confidence in the election “.

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However, he reassured the agency that Florida would send its own observers to Broward, Miami-Dade, Orange and Osceola counties to “ensure there is no interference with the voting process.”

The DOJ promised Florida election officials in Orange and Osceola counties that federal agents would stay out of the polling locations in question, according to the Orlando Sentinel.