By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Republican-led state of Missouri sought a court order on Monday to prevent the U.S. Justice Department from sending lawyers to St. Louis on Election Day to monitor compliance with federal voting rights laws, despite the city election board's agreement.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri by the state's attorney general and secretary of state, alleges that the Justice Department's last-minute plan aims to “displace state election authorities” by sending poll monitors across St. Louis on Tuesday.

Former President Donald Trump falsely asserts that his 2020 loss resulted from widespread fraud and has encouraged his supporters to watch polling places for suspected fraud during Tuesday's presidential election against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.

Missouri is among 27 states where the Justice Department plans to send staff to monitor voting locations, a common practice during national elections. The only site in Missouri receiving poll monitors is St. Louis, which reached a settlement with the Justice Department in January 2021 regarding accessibility issues for voters with disabilities.

As part of this agreement, the city’s Board of Election Commissioners consented to Justice Department oversight, including on Election Day.

This settlement took place at the end of the Trump administration when Eric Dreiband was the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. The Justice Department opted not to comment on the lawsuit.

In addition to critical battleground states, the Justice Department is dispatching personnel to various locations, including counties in Texas, Massachusetts, Alaska, South Dakota, and New Jersey, although Missouri is not among the targeted battleground states.

The Justice Department enforces several federal voting rights laws, including mandates for accommodating voters with disabilities and allowing overseas citizens and military members to vote absentee in federal elections.

In 2022, both Florida and Missouri opposed Justice Department efforts to send poll monitors to certain locations. Florida's state law restricts department employees from entering polling places unless on a permitted personnel list, leading to staff being stationed outside polling places in both Florida and Missouri during the 2022 election.