Missouri’s Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and Attorney General Andrew Bailey are suing the Biden-Harris Department of Justice (DOJ) over allegations that the federal government is interfering in the state’s election process. The lawsuit claims the DOJ is dispatching unauthorized monitors to polling locations in St. Louis in contravention of several federal statutes and the Supreme Court’s Shelby County v. Holder decision.
“To secure elections, Missouri exercised that traditional authority by enacting a law that strictly limits who, besides voters, can be present in a polling location,” the court filing states, adding: “Poll monitors employed by DOJ are not on that list. Yet without specifically citing any federal authority authorizing its actions, DOJ announced on Friday November 1 its intent to displace Missouri law and place unauthorized poll monitors in polling locations in the City of St. Louis.”
Ashcroft and Bailey note in the filing that the Biden-Harris DOJ attempted a similar move during the 2022 midterm elections. However, the DOJ reversed its decision after Ashcroft argued in a letter that they lacked statutory authority.
“No one is above the law,” the Missouri Secretary of State said in a statement on Monday. He added: “The law clearly and specifically limits who may be in polling places and this action by the DOJ is not allowed. Once again the federal government is attempting to illegally interfere in Missouri’s elections.”
“Two years ago, we met with the DOJ. We showed them the law and explained that they have no jurisdiction to interfere in Missouri elections. Now they are doing the same thing; trying to go through the back door by contacting local election officials and making false jurisdictional claims for access rather than contacting my office directly,” Ashcroft continued before concluding: “It would be highly inappropriate for federal agents to violate the law by intimidating Missouri voters and harassing poll workers.”