Florida sent a reminder to the U.S. Department of Justice that they are not allowed to send monitors to polling locations after the DOJ sent a press release announcing the planned visits.
The Justice Department announced Friday that it "Plans to monitor compliance with federal voting rights laws in 86 jurisdictions in 27 states for the Nov. 5 general election."
The DOJ said they "Regularly deploy" staff to "Monitor for compliance with federal civil rights laws in elections in communities all across the country."
Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd wrote an email to the Deputy Chief at the U.S. Department of Justice Voting Section, Jasmyn Richardson, that said: "As a reminder, Department of Justice monitors are not permitted inside a polling place under Florida law."
He cited 102.031(a) of the Florida statutes, which lists those who are allowed inside of a polling place.
"Even if they could qualify as 'law enforcement' under section 102.031(a) of the Florida Statutes, absent some evidence concerning the need for federal intrusion, or some federal statute that preempts Florida law, the presence of federal law enforcement inside polling places would be counterproductive and could potentially undermine confidence in the election," he said.
Byrd said the state has "Already invoked its authority under section 101.58(2) of the Florida statutes to send its own monitors to the jurisdictions identified in your press release."
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