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HOUSTON, TEXAS – NOVEMBER 7: Harris County election workers work as ballots arrive at NRG Stadium, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023, in Houston. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson says the state will not allow federal election observers at polling places Election day.

The Justice Department said it will send monitors to 86 jurisdictions in 27 states on Election Day, including eight Texas counties. These counties included both Dallas and Palo Pinto.

Nelson sent a letter to the Justice Department on Friday saying they won’t be allowed because it violates state law.

“If the secretary of state wants to say no to federal observers, he has that right now under current federal law,” said David Coale, a constitutional lawyer who is not involved in the issue.

The federal government routinely sends election monitors to polling places across the country to track potential voting rights violations.

Historically, the authority to do so came from the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which sought to equalize access to the vote.

A 2013 Supreme Court decision changed that.

“Federal election monitors either have to get permission from state agents, like the Texas secretary of state, or they have to operate under a federal court order, which happens from time to time, but it’s certainly not something that happens every day,” Coale said.

Nelson told the federal agency that their monitors are not allowed in Texas polling places or places where ballots are counted under state law.

“Texas can trust the state’s strong measures to ensure election integrity,” Nelson said in his letter.

A recent AP/NORC poll finds that one in three Americans believe local or state officials could interfere with the results, which states are trying to prevent.

However, there have been some attempts at election interference, such as in Washington state, where a ballot box was set on fire last Monday. Hundreds of ballots were destroyed.

READ MORE: Ballot boxes burned in Oregon, Washington linked; Hundreds of ballots burned

With tensions rising, Coale believes the state is making the right call.

“I think it’s good. I think it shows there’s a check and balance,” Coale said. “It’s very important to have checks and balances and so that no one branch of government is in charge of the election and running everything.”