By Sarah N. Lynch
On Monday, Missouri, a state controlled by Republicans, urged a court to prevent the U.S. Department of Justice from deploying legal representatives to St. Louis on the day of the election to ensure adherence to federal voting rights laws. This request came despite the city’s election board’s consent.
In a legal action initiated by Missouri’s attorney general and secretary of state in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, the Justice Department is accused of formulating a last-minute scheme aimed at “displacing state election authorities”. This involves dispatching polling station monitors to various locations across St. Louis on election day.
In the forthcoming presidential election, former Republican President Donald Trump is up against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump continues to assert without evidence that his 2020 loss was due to widespread fraud and has encouraged his followers to be present at polling stations to watch out for suspected fraudulent activities.
Missouri is amongst the 27 states identified by the Justice Department as requiring staff to oversee voting locations during national elections. St. Louis is the only location in Missouri where poll monitors will be stationed. This decision follows a January 2021 agreement between the city and the Justice Department over concerns about architectural barriers and other issues that could obstruct voting for disabled individuals.
The agreement, finalized during the last stages of the Trump administration under the supervision of Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, Eric Dreiband, allowed the Justice Department to monitor compliance, including at polling stations on election day.
While the Justice Department refrained from commenting on the lawsuit, it is known that they plan to monitor several locations on election day, including crucial counties in seven swing states. Other monitoring locations include counties in Texas, Massachusetts, Alaska, South Dakota, and New Jersey.
The Justice Department’s role includes enforcing several federal voting rights laws, including the provision of voting accommodations for disabled individuals and allowing U.S. citizens and military members residing abroad to vote via absentee ballot in federal elections.
In 2022, both Florida and Missouri opposed the Justice Department’s efforts to deploy poll monitors to locations including Miami-Dade and Broward County, Florida. The Justice Department subsequently stationed its staff outside polling locations in Florida and Missouri for the 2022 election.
