ST. LOUIS — Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft said on Monday he has filed a lawsuit over the U.S. Department of Justice's plan to monitor polling locations in the City of St. Louis on Tuesday.
In a statement, Ashcroft said the DOJ's monitoring was "the federal government is attempting to illegally interfere in Missouri’s elections.”
“The law clearly and specifically limits who may be in polling places and this action by the DOJ is not allowed," Ashcroft said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.
The City of St. Louis was one of 86 jurisdictions in 27 states that the DOJ said it would be monitoring as part of its regular deployment.
"The department regularly deploys its staff to monitor for compliance with federal civil rights laws in elections in communities all across the country," the DOJ said in a Nov. 1 announcement.
Ashcroft said he will continue to support election officials in Missouri as the state wraps up the last day of early voting.
"The secretary of state's office has full confidence in our election authorities," Ashcroft said in the statement. "Voting has been underway for several weeks and we are ready for Election Day.”
If you see civil rights issues on election day, Civil Rights Division personnel will be available all day to receive questions and complaints from the public related to possible violations. Reports may be made through the department’s website www.civilrights.justice.gov or by calling toll-free at 800-253-3931.
The St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners reached a settlement in 2021 with the Justice Department aimed at ensuring people with mobility and vision impairments can access to polling places after federal officials found problems, such as ramps that were too steep and inaccessible parking, according to the court papers. The settlement, which expires next year, says the board must “cooperate fully” with Justice Department's efforts to monitor compliance, “including but not limited to providing the United States with timely access to polling places (including on Election Day).”
This is the second general election that Ashcroft has pushed back against DOJ election monitors in the state. In 2022, Republican election officials in Cole County pushed back against the Justice Department’s efforts to review voting access. Ashcroft said county clerk Steve Korsmeyer had declined the Justice Department’s efforts to monitor the polls.
Ashcroft accused the department of “trying to bully a hard working county official.”
Who are election monitors?
According to reporting from the Associated Press, the DOJ election monitors are lawyers who work for the U.S. government. They are not law enforcement officers or federal agents. They generally include lawyers from the Justice Department’s civil rights division and U.S. attorney’s offices across the nation. The government also sometimes brings in employees from other agencies, such as the Office of Personnel Management, who are authorized to act as monitors under a federal court order.
AP reported that the Justice Department has sent attorneys to monitor election sites and compliance with federal voting laws for more than five decades. The department’s civil rights lawyers are responsible for enforcing civil action tied to the voting statutes and protecting the right to vote.
The laws they enforce include the Voting Rights Act, along with the National Voter Registration Act and other statutes. Prosecutors in the same division also enforce criminal statutes that prohibit voter intimidation and efforts to suppress voting based on someone’s race, national origin or religion.
Some of the locations where they have been sent include areas where there were concerns in 2020, as well as locations where issues have already been raised this year.
Where are elections being monitored?
For the general election, the department will monitor for compliance with federal voting rights laws on Election Day in 86 jurisdictions, including:
- Bethel Census Area, Alaska;
- Dillingham Census Area, Alaska;
- Kusilvak Census Area, Alaska;
- North Slope Borough, Alaska;
- Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska;
- Apache County, Arizona;
- Maricopa County, Arizona;
- Pima County, Arizona;
- Yuma County, Arizona;
- San Joaquin County, California;
- Broward County, Florida;
- Miami-Dade County, Florida;
- Orange County, Florida;
- Osceola County, Florida;
- Cobb County, Georgia;
- DeKalb County, Georgia;
- Fulton County, Georgia;
- Gwinnett County, Georgia;
- Macon-Bibb County, Georgia;
- Jefferson County, Kentucky;
- Kenton County, Kentucky;
- City of Everett, Massachusetts;
- City of Fitchburg, Massachusetts;
- City of Leominster, Massachusetts;
- City of Lowell, Massachusetts;
- City of Malden, Massachusetts;
- City of Methuen, Massachusetts;
- City of Quincy, Massachusetts;
- City of Salem, Massachusetts;
- Prince George’s County, Maryland;
- City of Ann Arbor, Michigan;
- City of Detroit, Michigan;
- City of Flint, Michigan;
- City of Grand Rapids, Michigan;
- City of Hamtramck, Michigan;
- City of Warren, Michigan;
- Hennepin County, Minnesota;
- City of Minneapolis, Minnesota;
- Ramsey County, Minnesota;
- Covington County, Mississippi;
- Scott County, Mississippi;
- Warren County, Mississippi;
- City of St. Louis, Missouri;
- Blaine County, Montana;
- Alamance County, North Carolina;
- Mecklenburg County, North Carolina;
- Wake County, North Carolina;
- Bergen County, New Jersey;
- Middlesex County, New Jersey;
- Union County, New Jersey;
- Bernalillo County, New Mexico;
- Cibola County, New Mexico;
- Clark County, Nevada;
- Queens, New York;
- Cuyahoga County, Ohio;
- Portage County, Ohio;
- Allegheny County, Pennsylvania;
- Luzerne County, Pennsylvania;
- Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania;
- City of Pawtucket, Rhode Island;
- City of Providence, Rhode Island;
- City of Woonsocket, Rhode Island;
- Charleston County, South Carolina;
- Bennett County, South Dakota;
- Jackson County, South Dakota;
- Minnehaha County, South Dakota;
- Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota;
- Atascosa County, Texas;
- Bexar County, Texas;
- Dallas County, Texas;
- Frio County, Texas;
- Harris County, Texas;
- Hays County, Texas;
- Palo Pinto County, Texas;
- Waller County, Texas;
- San Juan County, Utah;
- Hanover County, Virginia;
- Henrico County, Virginia;
- Loudoun County, Virginia;
- City of Manassas, Virginia;
- City of Manassas Park, Virginia;
- Prince William County, Virginia;
- Town of Lawrence (Rusk County), Wisconsin;
- City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin;
- Town of Thornapple, Wisconsin; and
- City of Wausau, Wisconsin.
What are the other states saying?
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 Associated Press contributed to this report.
