AUSTIN, Texas — The Department of Justice will no longer send federal election monitors to polling sites and central count locations in Texas following a lawsuit from Attorney General Ken Paxton.

What You Need To Know

  • The Justice Department has agreed not to send federal election monitors to Texas polling sites and central count locations

  • The agency on Nov. 1 announced it would send monitors to eight Texas counties, including Atascosa, Bexar, Dallas, Frio, Harris, Hays, Palo Pinto and Waller counties

  • That announcement was followed by a lawsuit from Attorney General Ken Paxton against the Biden administration

  • Texas law does not list federal election monitors among those allowed to be inside a polling place, according to reporting from the Texas Tribune. Election monitors are still allowed to be outside of polling places

The Justice Department on Nov. 1 announced that it would send monitors to 86 jurisdictions in 27 states, including Texas’ Atascosa, Bexar, Dallas, Frio, Harris, Hays, Palo Pinto and Waller counties.

In response, Paxton this week filed a lawsuit against the Biden-Harris administration, calling the agency’s decision unlawful.

Hours after Paxton’s lawsuit was filed, the Justice Department on Monday evening agreed to not enter Texas polling sites and central count locations, per Texas law.

 

Federal election monitors will also remain within 100 feet from polling and central count locations and refrain from interfering with voters.

Following the agency’s announcement, the Texas Secretary of State issued the following letter: 

“Texas law is clear: Justice Department monitors are not permitted inside a polling place where ballots are being cast or a central counting station where ballots are being counted. As to the polling place, Section 61.001 of the Texas Election Code identifies those persons who may be lawfully present on election day; federal inspectors are not included in the enumerated list.… Nor are federal inspectors specified in the list of persons permitted in the central counting station while ballots are being counted.”

Texas law does not list federal election monitors among those allowed to be inside a polling place, according to reporting from the Texas Tribune. However, election monitors are still allowed to be outside of polling places.

Paxton’s lawsuit will remain pending until the election concludes “to ensure DOJ’s compliance,” a release from Paxton’s office reads.

“Texans run Texas elections, and we will not be bullied by the Department of Justice,” Paxton said. “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.”