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    Florida Secretary of State Letter

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    streiff at redstate
    Letter from Florida Secretary of State General Counsel telling Department of Justice that "voting monitors" will not be allowed in polling places.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Florida Secretary of State Letter

    Uploaded by

    streiff at redstate
    24K views2 pages
    Letter from Florida Secretary of State General Counsel telling Department of Justice that "voting monitors" will not be allowed in polling places.

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    © © All Rights Reserved

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    Letter from Florida Secretary of State General Counsel telling Department of Justice that "voting monitors" will not be allowed in polling places.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    24K views2 pages

    Florida Secretary of State Letter

    Uploaded by

    streiff at redstate
    Letter from Florida Secretary of State General Counsel telling Department of Justice that "voting monitors" will not be allowed in polling places.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    FLORIDA DEPARTMENT Of STATE

    RON DESANTIS CORD BYRD


    Governor Secretary of State

    November 7, 2022

    VIA EMAIL ONLY: [email protected]


    Mr. John “Bert” Russ
    Deputy Chief & Elections Coordinator
    Voting Section
    Civil Rights Division

    Re: U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Election Monitoring Program in


    Florida

    Dear Mr. Russ,

    Earlier today, the Florida Department of State received copies of your letters to
    Miami-Dade and Broward Counties in which you seem to indicate that the Department
    of Justice will send monitors énside polling places in these counties. We also understand
    you sent a similar letter to Palm Beach County.

    But Department of Justice monitors are not permitted inside a polling place
    under Florida law. Section 102.031(3)(a) of the Florida Statutes lists the people who
    “may enter any polling room or polling place.” Department of Justice personnel ate not
    included on the list. Even if they could qualify as “law enforcement” under section
    102.031 (3)(a)6. of the Florida Statutes, absent some evidence concerning the need for
    federal intrusion, or some federal statute that preempts Florida law, the presence of
    federal law enforcement inside polling places would be counterproductive and could
    potentially undermine confidence in the election.

    Indeed, your letters do not detail the need for federal monitors in these counties.
    None of the counties are currently subject to any election-related federal consent

    Office of the General Counsel


    R.A. Gray Building, Suite 100 + 500 South Bronough Street * Tallahassee, Florida 32399
    850.245.6536 * 850.245.6127 (Fax) * DOS.MyFlorida.com
    decrees. None of the counties have been accused of violating the rights of language or
    racial minorities or of the elderly or disabled.

    Your letters simply provide a non-exhaustive list of federal elections statutes as


    the basis for this action without pointing to any specific statutory authorization. When
    asked for specific authorization during our phone call this evening, you did not provide
    any. Accordingly, the Florida Department of State invokes its authority under section
    101.58(2) of the Florida Statutes to send its own monitors to the three targeted
    jurisdictions. These monitors will ensure that there is no interference with the voting
    process.

    You have my cell phone number. Please let me know how best to coordinate
    with your team as Florida works towards another smooth election day.

    Sincerely,

    Dead Me Vay

    Brad McVay
    General Counsel
    Florida Department of State

    ce: Hon. Christina White (and her counsel) via email


    Hon. Joe Scott (and his counsel) via email
    Hon. Wendy Link (and her counsel) via email

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