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Missouri has filed a lawsuit to prevent the DOJ from sending federal poll monitors to St. Louis, arguing that it violates state election oversight laws.

Let’s bring you up to speed: Last week, the DOJ announced plans to monitor election compliance in 27 states on Election Day, arguing that their move is to ensure adherence to federal voting rights laws across various jurisdictions. This monitoring includes critical battleground states such as Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, where tight races and high voter turnout are anticipated. The DOJ’s efforts will also extend to several other states, including St. Louis in Missouri, where compliance with accessibility and other federal voting standards is under review following previous DOJ agreements.  

What’s going on now: In a lawsuit filed by Missouri’s secretary of state, the state is seeking to prevent the Department of Justice (DOJ) from sending federal monitors to polling locations in St. Louis on Election Day, claiming it infringes on Missouri’s election oversight authority.

In their filing, the Secretary of State wrote, “To secure elections, Missouri exercised that traditional authority by enacting a law that strictly limits who, besides voters, can be present in a polling location. Poll monitors employed by DOJ are not on that list. Yet without specifically citing any federal authority authorizing its actions, DOJ announced on Friday November 1 its intent to displace Missouri law and place unauthorized poll monitors in polling locations in the City of St. Louis.”