By: Lana Ferguson
The U.S. Department of Justice changed course and agreed to not send election monitors into polling places in eight Texas counties, including Dallas, on Election Day, according to court documents.
The decision comes after Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the agency following the Justice Department’s announcement Friday that it would deploy federal election monitors Tuesday to 86 jurisdictions across 27 states. The Department of Justice regularly visits precincts during elections to ensure compliance with federal election law.
The lawsuit, announced by Paxton on Monday evening, was filed in federal court. Paxton argued that no federal statute authorizes federal agents to monitor state elections when they are prohibited by state law.
According to a new court filing, the Department of Justice agreed that election monitors will remain at least 100 feet outside the polling and central count locations as required by Texas law and “will not interfere with voters attempting to vote” as is consistent with its longstanding practice but can speak with voters who are willing to do so.
“Texans run Texas elections, and we will not be bullied by the Department of Justice,” Paxton said in a Tuesday news release. “The DOJ knows it has no authority to monitor Texas elections and backed down when Texas stood up for the rule of law. No federal agent will be permitted to interfere with Texas’s free and fair elections.”
The lawsuit against the DOJ will be pending until the conclusion of the election to ensure the department’s compliance, according to the release.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
