Secretary of State's Office shares email from DOJ asking to observe Cole County Polls
COLE COUNTY — On Sunday, the Missouri Secretary of State's Office posted a tweet sharing an email that was sent from the US Department of Justice to Cole County Clerk Steve Korsmeyer.
In the email, Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri Charles Thomas wrote that the department would be reviewing Cole County's voting program on site on election day.
Thomas then said one of two teams working with the Disability Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division of the department would like to come by Korsmeyer's office the day before the election to briefly touch base.
In a three-tweet response, the account said "While the U.S. DOJ could clearly learn a lot from Missouri about non-partisanship and how to administer accessible, secure and credible elections, it would be highly inappropriate for federal agents to violate the law by intimidating Missouri voters at the polls on Election Day. Under Missouri law, the local election authority is empowered to decide who, other than voters and poll workers, may be at polling locations. Cole County Clerk Steve Korsmeyer has rightfully declined to allow this over-reach and the secretary of state’s office fully supports him. If the DOJ desires to meet to discuss this matter further, they may meet at my office instead of trying to bully a hard working county official."
