Hennepin County has refused a Department of Justice request to let federal election monitors inside Minneapolis-area polling places for Tuesday's midterm election, according to The Gateway Pundit.
The county will instead keep DOJ staff outside the 100-foot boundary set by state law. The monitors, expected to be plainclothes DOJ employees, may only try to interview voters after they leave, and participation is entirely voluntary.
The decision was confirmed by the office of Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty. It mirrors the rule the county applied when the DOJ made the same request before the Aug. 11 primary.
According to Moriarty's office, the county consulted with the Minnesota Secretary of State's Office and others before denying the request for access. In its statement, the county said the monitors "will not be permitted inside polling places but instead must remain outside a 100-foot boundary from the polling locations, in compliance with Minnesota law."
"Our office is committed to ensuring free, safe, and fair elections," Moriarty said, adding that reports of potentially unlawful behavior directed at voters or election workers "will be reviewed and, if appropriate, prosecuted." The county also said the Minnesota Attorney General's Office plans to observe the DOJ monitoring teams.
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said both Hennepin and Ramsey counties declined the DOJ's request, "as they can under the law," FOX 9 reported. Simon said local governments must give explicit permission under Minnesota law for federal observers to be inside a polling place.
The restriction rests on Minnesota Statute 204C.06, which says that apart from election officials, voters and exit pollers, "an individual must not stand within 100 feet of the building in which a polling place is located." That leaves federal monitors without automatic authority to go inside without local consent.
Simon has stressed that the monitors are DOJ lawyers, not armed officers, and that they "cannot disrupt any election activities," according to CBS Minnesota. He also credited the DOJ, saying the teams abided by all applicable laws and rules during the primary and that he expects them to do so again.
The county said "DOJ is expected to abide by the County's decision." Simon's office said Hennepin County could see five to six two-person teams and Ramsey County four to five, all staying outside the boundary.
The DOJ, meanwhile, announced it is deploying roughly 1,000 monitors and observers, in all 50 states for the first time, with Minneapolis, Hennepin and Ramsey on its list. "Election integrity has been one of the top priorities for this Administration and this Division," said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the Civil Rights Division.
The Hennepin decision means the DOJ cannot directly observe the inside of polling places in Minnesota's largest county. The Gateway Pundit noted that the state has drawn national attention over ballot handling, noncitizen voting concerns and the influence of its large Somali community.
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