Russia sought to send monitors to U.S. polling stations in Louisiana and two other states for the Nov. 8 elections, but was rebuffed, USA Today and Russian media reported Thursday.

Calling the request a "propaganda ploy," Meg Casper, a spokeswoman for Louisiana Secretary of State Tom Schedler, said the FBI and Department of Homeland Security "told us not to do this," the USA Today report says.

"We've allowed observers from overseas in the past from other countries, never from Russia," she said.

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The story says Schedler cited the August flooding in south Louisiana in declining the Russian request, according to a copy of an Aug. 26 letter sent to Alexander Zakharov, Russia's consul general in Houston. Schedler explained that his office in Baton Rouge sustained heavy damage that left his office short-staffed.

In Wednesday's presidential debate, Hillary Clinton charged that Russian President Vladimir Putin was backing Donald Trump because "he'd rather have a puppet as president of the United States," The Associated Press reported.

Trump denied any relationship with Putin and said he would condemn any foreign interference in the election.

Russia made the request for monitors in the U.S. during talks with the State Department and was "categorically rejected," the Russian newspaper Izvestia reported.

Russian officials also sought access on the state level in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. Izvestia said Russia was turned down in "harsh" terms.

See the USA Today story here.

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