The DOJ’s observation of three election sites in the state is being resisted by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) administration in Florida.
In a letter to the DOJ on Monday, a lawyer for the Florida Department of State stated that the department’s monitors would not be permitted in polling places in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties because they were not authorized by Florida state law.
General Counsel Brad McVay wrote in the letter that the presence of federal law enforcement inside polling places “would be counterproductive and could potentially undermine confidence in the election, absent some evidence concerning the need for federal intrusion, or some federal statute that preempts Florida law.”
The three counties would receive their own monitors, according to the Florida Department of State.
On Monday, the DOJ made the announcement that it would deploy observers to 64 jurisdictions in 24 states, including the three counties in Florida. Since the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965, the department stated that its Civil Rights Division has “frequently observed elections.”
Three of the six counties in Florida that the DOJ also kept an eye on during the 2020 election were Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach.
Similar plans were made by a county in Missouri to prevent DOJ observers from visiting the polls on election day. According to Missouri state law, Cole County Clerk Steve Korsmeyer stated to the Missouri Independent on Monday that “the DOJ won’t be allowed into our polling stations.”
Jay Ashcroft, the secretary of state for Missouri, claimed in a tweet on Sunday that the DOJ had “intimidated Missouri voters at the polls on Election Day.”
