Judge dismisses Missouri lawsuit that sought watchers at early voting

ST. CHARLES, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri judge on Friday denied a Republican committeeman's effort to force the state's third-largest county to allow watchers or challengers to observe early voting.

Judge Dewayne Johnson wrote that the document filed by St. Charles County Central Committeeman Travis Allen Heins “fails to satisfy the requirements” of a temporary restraining order. Johnson didn't consider the merits of the case but dismissed the challenge because it wasn't written meeting state legal standards.

“I’m not an attorney and never claimed to be,” Heins told The Associated Press. He called the ruling disappointing but said his request “opens the conversation” about the need to clarify the roles of watchers and challengers during the early voting period in Missouri.

St. Charles County Director of Elections Kurt Bahr welcomed the ruling.

“Election challengers from both political parties will be present at several polling locations on election day as state law allows,” Bahr said in a statement. "We hope that the legislature can provide clarity on this issue during their next session."

This is the first presidential election with no-excuse absentee voting in Missouri, and turnout has been heavy at many places, including St. Charles County. Bahr expected 2,500 voters per day, but daily totals have often reached around 5,000. The county, in suburban St. Louis, has about 420,000 residents.

Under Missouri law, each political party on the ballot can designate a challenger for every polling place on Election Day. Heins’ petition argued that he should be allowed to observe now because ballots are really tabulated as soon as voters feed them into a scanner.

“When election authorities deny the presence of a Challenger or Watcher, the safety and transparency of the elections are compromised,” Heins wrote in his petition.

Leaders of the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition said several people have been deterred from voting since the injunction request.