The U.S. Department of Justice has agreed not to send federal observers to polling places in Texas after Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a request to block the department from monitoring the state’s elections. As part of the agreement, the state withdrew its request to prevent the department from monitoring the election process.
Paxton filed the request on Monday, hours before Election Day, arguing that state law does not allow Justice Department observers to be at polling places. The Texas Tribune reported that as part of the agreement, Justice Department monitors will be stationed outdoors in eight Texas counties, at least 100 feet from polling places and central counting sites.
“Texas elections are run by Texans, and we will not be bullied by the Department of Justice,” Paxton said in a statement Tuesday. “The Department of Justice knows it does not have the authority to monitor elections in Texas and stepped back when Texas asserted the rule of law. No interference is allowed.”
The Justice Department regularly sends monitors across the country to ensure compliance with federal law and prevent potential voting rights violations. For this election, observers will be sent to 86 jurisdictions in 27 states. In Texas, monitors will be located in Atascosa, Bexar, Dallas, Frio, Harris, Hays, Palo Pinto and Waller counties.
Paxton said state law only provides a list of 15 categories, including voters and minors, minors accompanying voters, state and local election officials, and poll watchers, who are allowed in polling places. The Justice Department argued that it did not have the authority to dispatch election observers because there was no such system. Those who have completed the training set by the government.
Nevertheless, Rochelle Garza, president of the Texas Rights Project and a former Democratic candidate running against Paxton in the 2022 attorney general race, said the law does not allow federal observers to enter polling places. Although it doesn’t explicitly ban it, “we do allow individuals to vote,” he told the Houston Chronicle. Their attendance is authorized by the presiding judge in accordance with this law. ”
Garza added that election judges could choose to give the green light to federal monitors at polling places.
