A federal judge late Monday denied an effort by Missouri’s Republican leaders to ban Justice Department election monitors from gaining access to polling sites in St. Louis County on Election Day.
U.S. District Judge Sarah Pitlyk said state officials were wrong in asserting that the federal government lacked the authority to enter voting locations in the county to watch for potential voting rights irregularities.
In her nine-page ruling, Pitlyk cited a legal settlement between the Justice Department and the Board of Election Commissioners for the City of St. Louis signed in January 2021 under the Americans With Disabilities Act.
That agreement, which runs through July 11, 2025, outlines remedial steps that the elections board must take to improve ballot access for disabled people and stipulates that federal authorities be allowed to monitor the progress, including inside polling locations.