by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News November 8, 2022
The administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis told the Department of Justice that federal Election Day poll monitors are “not permitted” inside Florida polling places.
The DOJ on Monday released a list of 64 jurisdictions in 24 states in which federal operatives would be sent to “monitor for compliance with federal voting rights laws” on Election Day.
Included in that list were Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach counties in Florida.
The DOJ said in a Monday press release: “Monitors will include personnel from the Civil Rights Division and from U.S. Attorneys’ Offices. In addition, the division also deploys monitors from the Office of Personnel Management, where authorized by federal court order. Division personnel will also maintain contact with state and local election officials.”
The 64 jurisdictions “are mostly Democrat strongholds or swing districts in states with key midterm contests such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada,” Victoria Marshall wrote for The Federalist on Tuesday.
Marshall continued: “These blue and swing counties are facing increased scrutiny this year by RNC and GOP activists — who after nearly 40 years are finally permitted to coordinate poll watching with the national committee and file voting-related lawsuits, as Democrats have been able to do all along. But now these DOJ attorneys, under the guise of protecting ‘voting rights,’ can help Democratic operatives get around election integrity objections at the polls and avoid scrutiny.
“While Democrats and corporate media have maligned GOP poll workers and characterized election integrity activists as threats to democracy, thousands of concerned citizens have received training to get involved in the administration of their local elections. As a result, it seems partisan activists in the DOJ are taking matters into their own hands to meddle for Democrats in key midterm contests.”
Brad McVay, general counsel to Florida’s Department of State, told the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ in a Monday letter that the DOJ “seem[ed] to indicate” that these monitors will be placed inside polling places. McVay said that is not permitted.
“Section 102.031(3)(a) of the Florida Statutes lists the people who ‘may enter any polling room or polling place,’ ” McVay wrote. “Department of Justice personnel are not included on the list.”
The DeSantis administration said Florida would send its own monitors to “ensure there is no interference in the voting process.”
In Georgia, Fulton County is one of the DOJ’s targets. The county represents nearly 11 percent of Georgia’s electorate and is notorious for its poorly-run elections.
In Michigan, Wayne County, the home of Detroit and one of the four Democrat-heavy counties targeted by the DOJ in the state, represents upwards of 16 percent of the vote.
Among the Pennsylvania counties the DOJ said it would monitor is Philadelphia, which accounts for 20 percent of the entire Democrat vote.
In Arizona, the DOJ targeted Maricopa County, which represents more than 60 percent of the state’s electorate, as well as Pima County, another Democrat stronghold.
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