By Zachary Stieber Contributing Writer  Federal judge have rejected bids by Missouri and Texas officials to block U.S. Department of Justice poll monitors.  U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk on Tuesday rejected a motion for a temporary restraining order that was lodged by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The Republican-led state of Missouri asked a judge to block the Justice Department (DOJ) from dispatching lawyers to St. Louis to monitor adherence to federal voting rights laws on Election Day. Missouri’s attorney general and secretary of state claimed in the lawsuit that,

U.S. judges have denied requests from the Republican-led states of Missouri and Texas to block the federal government from sending lawyers to their states on Election Day to monitor compliance with federal voting rights laws.