Some Republican-led states refuse to let Justice Department monitors into polling places

WASHINGTON — Some Republican-led states say they will block the Justice Department's election monitors from going inside polling places on Election Day, pushing back on federal authorities' decades-long practice of watching for violations of federal voting laws.

Officials in Florida and Texas have said they won't allow federal election monitors into polling sites on Tuesday. And on Monday, Missouri filed a lawsuit seeking a court order to block federal officials from observing inside polling places. Texas followed with a similar lawsuit seeking to permanently bar federal monitoring of elections in the state.

The Justice Department announced last week that it's deploying election monitors in 86 jurisdictions across 27 states on Election Day. The Justice Department declined to comment on the moves by the Republican-led states, but filed court papers urging the judge to deny Missouri's request.

The race between Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump is a dead heat, and both sides are bracing for potential legal challenges to vote tallies. The Justice Department’s election monitoring effort, a long practice under both Democratic and Republican administrations, is meant to ensure that federal voting rights are being followed.

Here's a look at election monitors and the states' actions:

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