DOJ election monitors headed to Louisville, Clerk’s Office says they must stay outside the polls

The Clerk’s Office says Kentucky state law doesn’t allow federal monitors inside polling locations, but it has offered DOJ five other ways to raise concerns during voting.

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The U.S. Department of Justice plans to send federal election monitors to Jefferson County for the Nov. 3 General Election. The Jefferson County Clerk’s Office says they won’t be allowed inside polling locations.

According to the Clerk’s Office, the DOJ notified the county last week of its plans. The office says the monitors are expected to focus on language assistance for voters, accessibility at polling locations, and the use of provisional ballots.

County Clerk David Yates sent a letter today to Hwui Lee, a trial attorney in the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, laying out the office’s position. The Clerk’s Office says Kentucky law doesn’t allow it.

What the Clerk’s Office says the law allows

The office says Kentucky law limits who can be inside a polling location while voting is underway. The Clerk’s Office says federal election monitors aren’t among the people the statute expressly permits.

The statute does allow people authorized by an election officer to keep order and enforce the law. The Clerk’s Office says it doesn’t read that exception as a general authorization for routine federal monitoring inside polling places.

Under Kentucky law and guidance from the Kentucky State Board of Elections, the office says, monitors may stand outside the 100-foot boundary around polling-location entrances.

The office also says admitting people outside the legally permitted categories could expose election officials and the county to allegations of noncompliance, litigation and challenges to the results. The Clerk’s Office says Kentucky courts can invalidate election results in serious cases, such as voter intimidation, preventing someone from voting, or interfering with the secrecy of the ballot. It says it is not suggesting that a monitor’s presence alone would meet that standard, but that it wants to avoid anything that could invite a dispute or shake public confidence.

Still waiting on paperwork

The Clerk’s Office says it and DOJ held a virtual meeting on Oct. 22, where DOJ said it would send a memorandum outlining the monitors’ legal authority and planned activities. As of Monday, the office says it hasn’t received it. Early voting begins Thursday.

“While no formal documentation has been received, the DOJ has indicated that approximately a dozen federal monitors are expected to visit Louisville,” Yates said.

Yates said the individuals are DOJ employees serving as civil election monitors. “They are not federal law enforcement officers and will not be serving in a law enforcement capacity,” he said.

The Clerk’s Office says it wants to help DOJ do its work within state law. Its letter offers five things:

• A county liaison. Someone stationed away from the polls whom monitors can contact directly during voting hours.
• A pre-election briefing. A session at the Clerk’s Office on election procedures, ADA accessibility features and accommodations, language assistance, and complaint procedures. The office says it would also be a chance to discuss DOJ’s compliance concerns.
• Public election information. Polling-place lists, available accessibility information and other public materials, so monitors don’t have to interrupt poll workers.
• A quick-response process. Monitors would relay concerns to the liaison, who would contact the right election officials, arrange any needed fix, and report back to DOJ while voting is still underway.
• Help with information requests. The office says it will assist with requests for records, equipment access or voter-level information, consistent with disclosure rules, voter privacy, ballot secrecy, equipment security and preservation obligations.

What voters should expect

Yates said voters should expect Election Day to run normally. “Every eligible voter deserves the opportunity to cast a ballot safely, privately, and independently,” he said. “Our office is committed to ensuring voters feel welcome, supported, and confident when they go to the polls.”

He said the office respects DOJ’s role in protecting voting rights and wants to cooperate within Kentucky law. The office says it consulted legal counsel and Kentucky State Board of Elections guidance before informing DOJ that routine federal monitoring inside polling locations isn’t authorized under state law absent other applicable legal authority.

Yates also said voters have the right to cast a ballot free from threats, harassment, interference or intimidation. Anyone who sees or experiences possible voter intimidation should tell an election officer right away or call the Clerk’s Office at 502-574-6100.

“At the end of the day, this election belongs to the voters of Jefferson County,” Yates said. “Our responsibility is to ensure they can exercise their right to vote freely, safely, and with confidence.”

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