Kansas official says DOJ election monitors won’t hinder voting

TOPEKA — U.S. Department of Justice election monitors will be in Kansas on Tuesday but won’t interfere in the voting process, says a spokeswoman for the secretary of state.

“The voter experience should be unchanged compared to previous elections,” said Whitney Tempel. “Any monitors or observers will be clearly marked as such and are only allowed to observe. They will not be permitted to obstruct or hinder any voter in casting a ballot.”

Tempel said voters should follow their usual procedures at the polls, including bringing a government-issued photo identification.

“No voter will be turned away without being offered a chance to vote, at minimum, a provisional ballot,” she said. “Electioneering is prohibited inside the voting place as well as a 250-foot radius from the entrance. Do not sign your ballot or put your name on your ballot.”

On Thursday, Gov. Laura Kelly said her office had been in consultation with multiple “entities” along with the office of Secretary of State Scott Schwab, who serves as the state’s top elections official.

“We would be naive to not be prepared,” Kelly said. “They will be sending people into Kansas. We know where they’re going. We know how many are coming. The secretary of state’s office has already worked with them to put some boundaries and say, ‘You can go here, but you can’t go there.'”

Kelly said state and local election officials would perform their respective election duties on Tuesday.

“I think we’ve got our act together and I think we’ll be able to deal with what comes our way,” the governor said.

Anyone who has questions or concerns about the Tuesday elections in Kansas should contact the supervisor at the polling place, Tempel said.

President Donald Trump’s administration said it would increase the number of election monitors over past years to 1,000 and said they would be in all 50 states. The NAACP and Advancement Project, a civil rights organization, filed a lawsuit to stop the administration from sending FBI agents and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to polling places because of concerns about voter intimidation. 

The Justice Department said Wednesday during that lawsuit that monitors will be staff from the Drug Enforcement Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; and the Federal Bureau of Prisons, according to a news release from Vote Safe, a voter protection organization.

“Just days before Election Day, this administration is unveiling what appears to be its largest election monitoring operation in history, staffed by people from agencies that run federal prisons and conduct drug and firearms raids,” the Vote Safe news release said. “The DOJ still won’t say which polling places they’re headed to. This is yet another effort to keep eligible Americans from exercising their rights.”

The ACLU encouraged anyone who sees anything concerning on Election Day to report issues to its election protection hotline, 866-OUR-VOTE.

(Tim Carpenter contributed to this story.)