The GOP candidate in Missouri says he should be able to watch early voting

ST. CHARLES, Mo. — A Republican member of the committee asked a judge to stop early voting in Missouri’s third-largest county until it allows “observers” or “challengers” to watch the polls.

Early voting in St. County Charles will continue until a judge rules, County Elections Director Kurt Bahr and Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft said. Early voting locations in a Republican-leaning suburban county near St. Louis opened on Thursday, a day after Travis Allen Heins filed a motion for an injunction.

The court hearing is scheduled for Friday at 9:00 a.m.

This is the first presidential election in which no-excuse mail-in voting took place in Missouri.

Under state law, each political party on the ballot can nominate a “challenger” at any polling place on Election Day. In the case of postal voting, voting participants may be present in places where ballots are counted.

Heins’ petition argues that he should be allowed to observe now because ballots are actually tabulated as soon as voters enter them into the scanner.

“When election authorities deny the presence of a Challenger or Observer, election security and transparency are at risk,” Heins wrote in his petition.

The Associated Press emailed Heins Thursday seeking comment. He said Postal delivery from St. Louis that he has no suspicion of committing a crime and just wants to be able to observe.

Bahr said his office initially expected about 2,500 people to vote each day during the two-week early voting period that ends Monday. On some days, around 5,000 people voted. The district has 420,000 inhabitants.

Leaders of the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition said several people have been discouraged from voting since the order was issued.

“This lawsuit is nothing more than a voter suppression tactic designed to keep people from turning out to vote,” Zebrina Looney, president of the St. County NAACP, said in an email. Charles and a member of the coalition.