Texas tells DOJ election observers not allowed at polls

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Texas’ top elections official told the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday that election observers will not be allowed at polling places in Texas, after the agency announced plans to send observers to eight Texas counties on Election Day to ensure compliance with federal laws on guarantee the right to vote.

The Justice Department regularly sends observers across the country to keep an eye out for potential voting rights violations during major elections. The agency said observers would be on the ground in 86 jurisdictions in 27 states — including Atascosa, Bexar, Dallas, Frio, Harris, Hays, Palo Pinto and Waller counties.

Late Friday, Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson told the federal agency that election observers are not among those allowed inside Polling Places in Texas or inside central locations where ballots are counted under state law.

“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.

For decades, the Justice Department has deployed election observers across the country to observe procedures at polling places and places where votes are counted. That was a power granted to the federal government under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which banned discriminatory voting practices and aimed to equalize access to voting. After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down parts of the law years ago, the agency must now get permission from state and local jurisdictions to be present or get a court order.

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

The agency did not say Friday why it selected those eight Texas counties — although it will send monitors to as many jurisdictions in Massachusetts. The Ministry of Justice has regularly sent monitors to Texas — also in 2022when those monitors were sent to Dallas, Harris and Waller counties. A group of Texas Democrats at local, state and federal levels had called on the federal agency in September to send election observers to the elections. the state’s five most populous counties – although it 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” throughout Texas.

Election day is Tuesday.

Disclosure: The Texas Secretary of State has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.