Texas tells DOJ that election observers cannot attend polls

Sign up for The BriefThe Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers informed about the most important Texas news.

Texas’ top elections official told the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday that election observers are not allowed at Texas polls after the agency announced plans to send observers to eight Texas counties on Election Day to ensure compliance with federal election laws. voting rights.

The Justice Department regularly sends observers across the country to watch for potential voting rights violations during major elections. The agency said observers will operate in 86 jurisdictions in 27 states, including Atascosa, Bexar, Dallas, Frio, Harris, Hays, Palo Pinto and Waller counties.

Late Friday night, Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson told the federal agency that election observers were not among those allowed inside Polling places in Texas or v central places for counting votes in accordance with state law.

“Rest assured that Texas has robust processes and procedures in place to ensure that eligible voters are able to participate in free and fair elections” – Nelson he wrote to a Justice Department official Friday evening.

For decades, the Justice Department has deployed election observers across the country to observe procedures at polling places and vote-counting sites. This was a power granted to the federal government under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which banned discriminatory voting practices and was intended to equalize voting access. After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down some of the regulations years ago, the agency now must obtain permission from state and local governments to be present or obtain a court order.

Officials in Florida and Missouri have barred federal election observers in 2022 — and this year, officials in Arkansas he told ABC News they wouldn’t be allowed there.

The agency did not say Friday why it chose those eight Texas counties, although it will send observers to as many jurisdictions in Massachusetts. The Department of Justice has regularly shipped monitors to Texas — including in 2022when these monitors were sent to Dallas, Harris and Waller counties. A group of Texas Democrats at the local, state and federal levels in September called on a federal agency to send election observers to the state’s five most populous counties — although she ultimately planned to send monitors to three of them.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Spokesman for the Texas Secretary of State’s office he 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 is a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in Trybuna’s journalism. Find a set their list here.