Some Republican-led states are refusing to allow Justice Department observers into polling places.

WASHINGTON — Some Republican-led states say they will ban Justice Department observers from entering polling places on Election Day, breaking with decades of federal practice monitoring violations of federal voting laws.

Officials in Florida And Texas said they would not allow federal election observers into polling places on Tuesday. And on Monday, the state of Missouri filed a lawsuit seeking a court order to block federal officials from observing what’s happening at polling places. Texas followed with a similar lawsuit seeking a permanent ban on federal election monitoring in the state.

Last week, the Justice Department announced it was sending election observers to 86 jurisdictions in 27 states on election day. On Monday, the Justice Department declined to comment on Missouri’s lawsuit or actions by other Republican-led states.

The race between Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Republican candidate Donald Trump has ended in a draw, and both sides are bracing for possible legal challenges in the vote count. The Justice Department’s election monitoring efforts, a long-standing practice under both Democratic and Republican administrations, are designed to ensure federal voting rights are respected.

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

Who are election observers?

Election observers are lawyers employed by the Justice Department, including the Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorneys’ 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 to monitor polling places across the country in both federal and non-federal elections. Observers are tasked with enforcing federal voting rights laws.

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

“The Department of Justice has a nearly 60-year history of addressing Election Day issues to protect the voting rights of Black citizens and other communities of color,” said Edward Kasper, acting co-chief counsel of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights. “While some recent attempts to intervene in this process may seem more extreme than harsh, they still pose a real threat to civil rights enforcement,” he said.

Where are election observers sent?

The 86 jurisdictions to which the Justice Department will send observers on Tuesday include Maricopa County, Arizona, and Fulton County, Georgia, which has become a center of 2020 election conspiracy theories spread by Trump and other Republicans. Another place on the list is Portage County, Ohio, where the sheriff came under fire for a social media post in which he said people with signs in Harris’ yard should write down their addresses so immigrants could be sent to live with them if he wins democrat. presidency.

Other regions where federal observers 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 District, Alaska. DOJ observers will be located in St. Louis, four jurisdictions in Florida and eight jurisdictions in Texas.

What’s happening in Missouri?

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

The lawsuit states that Missouri law “allows only certain categories of persons to be present at polling places, including voters, minor children, voters’ chaperones, poll workers, election judges, etc.” not federal officials.

The Justice Department also sought to monitor Missouri’s 2022 polling stations. The agency planned to send officials to 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 asking local election officials for access.

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

The board reached a settlement in January 2021 with the Trump administration’s Justice Department aimed at ensuring people with mobility and vision impairments have access to polling places after federal officials found problems such as ramps that were too steep and inaccessible parking, according to the court. paper. The agreement, which expires next year, says the board must “cooperate fully” with the Justice Department’s compliance efforts, “including, but not limited to, providing the United States with timely access to polling places (including on the day elections)”.

What do other states say?

In a letter to the Justice Department on Friday, Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson wrote: “Texas law is clear: DOJ observers are not permitted to enter polling places where ballots are cast or the central counting center where ballots are counted. »

“Texas has robust processes and procedures in place 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 specifies who is allowed at the state’s polling places and does not include DOJ officials. Byrd said Florida is sending its own observers to the four jurisdictions where the Justice Department plans to send officers and they will “ensure there is no interference in the voting process.”

Associated Press writer Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee contributed reporting, Salter reported from O’Fallon, Missouri.