In a significant move, Missouri’s Republican leadership has filed a lawsuit aimed at preventing the U.S. Justice Department from deploying poll monitors in St. Louis on Election Day. This legal action, initiated by the state’s attorney general and secretary of state, comes despite an agreement previously reached by the city’s election board allowing federal oversight.
The lawsuit claims the Justice Department’s last-minute decision to send monitors could undermine state election authorities. This contentious situation is heightened by former President Donald Trump’s continued assertions of election fraud, which he claims contributed to his 2020 loss. He has rallied his supporters to observe polling places, escalating tensions around the election process.
The Justice Department had announced it would monitor voting in Missouri as part of its broader effort across 27 states, focusing on compliance with federal voting rights laws, including protections for voters with disabilities. The only area in Missouri where monitors are set to be dispatched is St. Louis, which had previously settled with the Justice Department over accessibility issues that could hinder voting for individuals with disabilities.
This settlement, concluded just before Trump left office, allowed for federal monitoring on Election Day. The Justice Department has yet to comment on the ongoing lawsuit.
While key battleground states will see federal personnel at polling places, Missouri does not fall into that category. The Justice Department has historically faced resistance in other states, with similar attempts to send monitors in Florida being curtailed due to state law restricting outside personnel in polling places. In those instances, federal staff were positioned outside polling locations to ensure compliance with voting rights regulations.
