Kansas Says Federal Election Monitors Cannot Hinder Voting on Nov. 3

U.S. Justice Department election monitors will be in Kansas on Tuesday but cannot interfere with voting, a spokeswoman for the secretary of state said, the Kansas Reflector reported. “The voter experience should be unchanged,” Whitney Tempel said. Monitors must be clearly marked, may only observe and cannot obstruct a voter, and no voter will be turned away without at least a provisional ballot offered.

Gov. Laura Kelly said Thursday her office has consulted the secretary of state’s office and knows where monitors are going and how many are coming. “We would be naive to not be prepared,” she said.

The Justice Department plans about 1,000 monitors nationwide, more than double the 388 sent in 2022, PBS NewsHour reported. Secretary of State Scott Schwab, a Republican, told PBS monitors may enter a polling place but cannot go past the voter ID checkpoint, and he called even one monitor in Kansas “overkill.” The NAACP and Advancement Project have sued to stop the administration from sending FBI and immigration agents to polling places. The Justice Department said in that case Wednesday that monitors will come from the DEA, ATF and Bureau of Prisons, according to a news release from the group Vote Safe, the Reflector reported.