Texas’ top elections official told the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday that its election observers were not allowed in the state’s polling locations after the federal agency announced plans to send observers in eight counties on Election Day to ensure compliance with federal voting rights laws.

The Justice Department regularly sends observers across the country to monitor possible voting rights violations in major elections. The agency said observers would be on the ground in 86 jurisdictions across 27 states. The counties in Texas are Atascosa, Bexar, Dallas, Frio, Harris, Hays, Palo Pinto, and Waller counties.

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Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson told the federal agency Friday evening that its election observers were not among those allowed in. Polling Locations in Texas or in central locations where ballots are counted under state law. Election day is Tuesday.

A spokesperson for his office said Nelson could do nothing to change who was allowed to go to a polling place and that they were only following the law. The Texas Election Code lists who is allowed to go to a polling location and does not include federal election observers. Election observers are still allowed outside polling places.

“Rest assured that Texas has robust processes and procedures in place to ensure eligible voters can participate in free and fair elections,” Nelson said. wrote to a DOJ official Friday evening.

The secretary of state’s statement came shortly after Lt.-Gov. Dan Patrick debunked claims on social media about voting machines in Texas that flipped votes from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to Vice President Kamala Harris.

“There has not been a single confirmation that this actually happened,” Patrick wrote.

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For decades, the Justice Department has dispersed election observers across the country to observe procedures at polling places and places where ballots are counted. This was a power granted to the federal government under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibited discriminatory voting practices and sought to equalize access to voting. After the U.S. Supreme Court gutted parts of the law years ago, the agency now must get permission from state and local courts to attend or obtain a court order.

Florida and Missouri officials have banned federal election observers in 2022 — and this year, Arkansas officials told ABC News they would not be allowed to go.

The agency did not explain Friday why it chose these eight Texas counties, although it will send monitors to as many Massachusetts jurisdictions. The Ministry of Justice has monitors regularly sent to Texas — including in 2022when these monitors were sent to Dallas, Harris and Waller counties. A group of Texas Democrats at the local, state and federal levels asked the federal agency in September to send election observers there. the state’s five most populous counties — although she ultimately planned to send monitors to three of them.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the Texas Secretary of State’s office told ABC News this week that state election inspectors would be sent to “various locations” across Texas.

Xiomara Moore contributed to this story.

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This article was originally published in The Texas Tribune has https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/01/texas-justice-department-election-monitors/.

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