DeSantis Officials Push Back After Feds Plan To Monitor Polls

FLORIDA — State officials said they won't allow the U.S. Department of Justice into Florida polling places after the federal agency announced Monday it would send election monitors to Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties to help "protect the rights of voters."

In a letter to DOJ dated Monday and shared by The Hill, lawyers for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's administration said monitors are not allowed in polling places under state law.

Additionally, "the presence of federal law enforcement inside polling places would be counterproductive and could potentially undermine confidence in the election," General Counsel Brad McVay said in the letter.

In a news release Monday, federal officials said the agency planned to monitor polling places in 24 states to ensure compliance with the federal voting rights laws on Election Day. Monitors include personnel from the Civil Rights Division and from U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, the agency said.

The addition of poll monitors is part of the federal agency's overall plan to ensure voting integrity and protect the voting process in America, the agency said.

Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach were three of six counties in Florida the DOJ also monitored in the 2020 election, according to The Hill.

In its letter to the DOJ, Florida officials said the state would send its own monitors to the three counties instead.

"Indeed, your letters do not detail the need for federal monitors in these counties," state officials wrote. "None of the counties are currently subject to any election-related federal consent decrees. None of the counties have been accused of violating the rights of language or racial minorities or of the elderly or disabled."