Russia has reportedly tried to send its officials to monitor the U.S. presidential election in Oklahoma, Louisiana and Texas.

The U.S. State Department immediately shot the idea down, telling the Russian diplomats 'thanks, but no thanks'.

Representatives from the Central Elections Commission allegedly spoke to the State Department about sending a group of monitors to oversee polling places on November 8, according to Russian media.

The move has been deemed a 'PR stunt' by the State Department.

Russia has reportedly tried to send its officials to monitor the U.S. presidential election in Oklahoma, Louisiana and Texas (stock image of voters in Miami on Friday)

The U.S. government told Russia that if they send agents to polling places on the day of the election they will be thrown in jail (stock image of Colorado polling place in 2015)

The U.S. government told Russia that if they send agents to polling places on the day of the election they will be thrown in jail.

The Oklahoma secretary of state's office said it received a letter in August from Russia's consulate general in Houston seeking to have one of its officers present at a voting precinct to study the 'US 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.

'While it would be our honor to offer the opportunity to observe our voting process, it is prohibited under state law to allow anyone except election officials and voters in or around the area where voting takes place,' Oklahoma Secretary of State Chris Benge wrote in a response to Alexander Zakharov, Russia's consul general in Houston.

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 (Russian consulate in Texas, pictured)

Texas has similar prohibitions on entering polling places, and Louisiana Secretary of State Tom Schedler denied the request, citing that state's catastrophic flooding in the Baton Rouge area in August.

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

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 in a statement. 'Individual parties - foreign governments, NGOs, etc. - are welcome to apply to state governments to observe our elections.'

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has faced criticism for suggesting the election might be 'rigged', and the U.S. earlier this month accused Russia of coordinating the theft and disclosure of emails from the DNC

Thousands of hacked emails from accounts of individuals within Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's campaign have been posted on the website of the WikiLeaks but Russia denies involvement

Russia hasn't participated in an international mission to observe elections, so its effort to do so on the state level represents 'nothing more than a PR stunt,' Toner said.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the purpose of the requests was uncertain.

He added it was 'appropriate' that people might be suspicious of Russia's motives.

U.S. officials suggested to Russia that it could watch the election via the Organization for Security and Cooperation's monitoring of the vote in Europe, AOL reported.

However, that apparently wasn't what Russia was looking for.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has faced criticism for suggesting the election might be 'rigged', and the U.S. earlier this month accused Russia of coordinating the theft and disclosure of emails from the Democratic National Committee and other institutions and individuals in the U.S. to influence the outcome of the election.