Florida tells Biden’s DOJ federal poll watchers not legal under state law

A statement from the Florida Department of State slammed the plan to send federal election polling monitors to Broward and Miami-Dade counties, stating specifically that the state takes issue with sending monitors inside polling places in the counties.

"Department of Justice monitors are not permitted under Florida law," they wrote, citing Section 102.031(3) which says that Florida Statutes "lists the people who 'may enter any polling room or polling place.' Department of Justice personnel are not included on the list. Even if they could qualify as 'law enforcement' under section 102.031(3)(a)6. of the Florida Statues, 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."

The state writes that letters sent by the DOJ do not provide detail as to why federal monitors need to be placed in polling stations in specific counties. "None of the counties 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," the letter continues.

"Your letters simply provide a non-exhaustive list of federal elections statutes as the basis for this action without pointing to any specific statutory authorization. When asked for specific authorization during our phone call this evening, you did not provide any."

The letter ends with General Counsel Brad McVay writing "you have my cell phone number. Please let me know how best to coordinate with your team as Florida works toward another smooth election day."