It's a contest between federal might and a state's right as
we head into the waning hours of the 2024 election. The Department of
Justice announced that it would be sending lawyers out to 86 polling
locations in 27 states to monitor them on Tuesday.
But some of those states are pushing back, including Missouri, which filed suit against the DOJ on Monday challenging the feds' right to have monitors in place.
Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft on Monday filed
a lawsuit against the Justice Department in an attempt to prevent
federal officials from monitoring polling locations in St. Louis on
Election Day.
Ashcroft in a statement accused the Justice
Department of "attempting to illegally interfere in Missouri's
elections" after the DOJ announced that it would oversee polling
locations in in St. Louis, one of 86 jurisdictions in 27 states that the
department will monitor on Election Day "for compliance with federal
civil rights laws in elections," according to a DOJ announcement issued
on Nov. 1.
"The law clearly and specifically limits who may be in polling places and this action by the DOJ is not allowed," Ashcroft said.
"The
secretary of state's office has full confidence in our election
authorities. Voting has been underway for several weeks and we are ready
for Election Day. I want to personally thank all 116 local election
authorities and the thousands of poll workers across Missouri who make
our elections safe, secure and credible," he added.
Missouri isn't the only state raising objections to the DOJ monitoring announcement. Both Texas and Florida have taken issue with the practice as well.
In a letter to the Justice Department on Friday, Texas
Secretary of State Jane Nelson said wrote that “Texas law is clear:
Justice Department monitors are not permitted inside polling places
where ballots are being cast or a central counting station where ballots
are being counted.”
“Texas has a robust processes and procedures
in place to ensure that eligible voters may participate in a free and
fair election," Nelson wrote.
In a similar letter Friday, Florida
Secretary of State Cord Byrd told the Justice Department that Florida
law lists who is allowed inside the state's polling places and that
Justice Department officials are not included. Byrd said that Florida is
sending its own monitors to the four jurisdictions the Justice
Department plans to send staff to and they will “ensure there is no
interference with the voting process.”
The complaint,
brought by Ashcroft and Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey against
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, Assistant U.S. Attorney General
Kristen Clarke, and the DOJ, and filed in the Eastern District of
Missouri, lays out the crux of the issue in the first paragraph:
For
the second election cycle in a row, the Department of Justice, at the
11th hour, has announced an intent to displace state election
authorities. Absent exceedingly clear federal authority, the States
“keep for themselves … the power to regulate elections.” Shelby Cnty.,
Ala. v. Holder, 570, U.S. 529, 543 (2013) (cleaned up). To secure
elections, Missouri exercised that traditional authority by enacting a
law that strictly limits who, besides voters, can be present in a
polling location. Poll monitors employed by DOJ are not on that list.
Yet without specifically citing any federal authority authorizing its
actions, DOJ announced on Friday November 1 its intent to displace
Missouri law and place unauthorized poll monitors in polling locations
in the City of St. Louis.
As alluded to in the complaint, this isn't the first set-to between
the state and the DOJ. In 2022, a similar scenario unfolded ahead of the
mid-term elections.
Feds Threaten 'Oversight' in at Least One Missouri County on Election Day
The
suit asks the court to declare the DOJ's proposed actions as "arbitrary
and capricious, or otherwise contrary to the law" and to enjoin the DOJ
from taking the proposed actions.
Bailey issued a statement on X/Twitter regarding the suit:
BREAKING: I filed suit against the Biden-Harris DOJ for sending unauthorized poll monitors to Missouri polling locations.
The law is clear that @KamalaHarris can’t just send unvetted individuals into our polling places.
It’s illegal and undermines trust in our elections.
A
hearing was set for Monday evening before U.S. District Judge Sarah
Pitlyk (a Trump appointee), who presumably will rule on the matter
sometime Monday evening. RedState will continue to monitor the matter
and provide updates as they become available.
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