US Department of Justice election monitors seen in San Marcos
SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) — U.S. Department of Justice election monitors were spotted in San Marcos on Election Day after a back-and-forth battle between the agency and the State of Texas.
On Friday, the DOJ said it would send staff from its Civil Rights Division to 86 jurisdictions in 26 states. Eight of those jurisdictions included Texas counties, and Hays County is part of one of those jurisdictions.
After the DOJ's announcement, Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson responded with a letter, stating the monitors were not allowed inside Texas polling places or central county stations.
On Monday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a lawsuit against the DOJ, looking to block the federal monitors from entering polling places. The state later withdrew that request, after DOJ agreed its monitors would stay outside of polling locations within 100 feet of where voting is taking place.
KXAN witnessed two monitors on Election Day outside of a polling location in San Marcos with clipboards, watching voters and taking notes. They confirmed with KXAN reporter Jala Washington that they were affiliated with the DOJ. They did not provide specifics as to why they chose San Marcos as one of their monitoring locations.
The Hays County Elections Office did not provide a comment on the monitors being sent to its area.
"The DOJ election monitors really look out for any violations against the Voting Rights Act, and so they're looking for voter intimidation, communities of color, areas being impacted more than other polling locations, [and whether] there are other voting issues that might be going (on)," Joyce LeBombard with the League of Women Voters of Texas said.
Monitoring polling locations on Election Day isn't new. The DOJ regularly sends its monitors out across the country during major elections.
The process has been modified by the U.S. Supreme Court, which now requires the agency to get permission from state and local jurisdictions to be present. Otherwise, a court order is required.
"The DOJ gets input from all kinds of organizations, and they did ask us for some input about where there might be issues happening," LeBombard said.
The DOJ hasn't disclosed specific polling locations where its monitors will be. Hays County said it wasn't told those specifics either.
"It's just another level to show that our elections are safe, that we have monitors, both at the local, state and federal level, all over the country," LeBombard said. "And it's countrywide."
On Monday, Paxton said he "deployed an Election Day Rapid Response Legal Team in major counties throughout the State to monitor day-of election activity and address litigation arising from the election, as necessary."