3 states balk at Russia’s request to monitor Nov. 8 election

OKLAHOMA CITY — Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas said Friday that they have denied efforts by Russian officials to be present at polling stations during the Nov. 8 election, requests the State Department’s spokesman dismissed as “nothing more than a PR stunt.”

The Oklahoma secretary of state’s office said it received a letter in August from Alexander Zakharov, Russia’s consul general in Houston, seeking to have an officer present at a voting precinct to study the “U.S. experience in organization of voting process.”

But the office denied the request, noting Oklahoma law prohibits anyone except election officials and voters from being present while voting is taking place.

Election officials in Louisiana and Texas said they denied similar requests.

While there is a formal process for foreign governments to observe U.S. elections, individual states maintain the authority to approve or deny those requests, said State Department spokesman Mark Toner.

“Any suggestion that we rejected Russia’s proposal to observe our elections is false,” Toner said. “Individual parties — foreign governments, NGOs, etc. — are welcome to apply to state governments to observe our elections.”

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said it was “appropriate” that people might be suspicious of Russia’s motives given that its government is believed responsible for recent cases of computer hacking into U.S. political campaigns.

“While it would be our honor to offer the opportunity to observe our voting process, it is prohibited under state law,” Oklahoma Secretary of State Chris Benge responded.

Texas has similar prohibitions, and Louisiana denied the request, citing that state’s catastrophic flooding in the Baton Rouge area in August.

Russia’s consul general in Houston asked Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas if one of its officers could observe voters.