DOJ Deploys About 1,000 Election Monitors Across All 50 States for the First Time
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Election Day, November 3, that it is deploying approximately 1,000 election monitors and observers across all 50 states, the largest monitoring effort in the Department's history and the first to cover every state. Four California jurisdictions are on the monitoring list: Los Angeles, Alameda, Sacramento and San Diego.
The effort is coordinated by the DOJ Civil Rights Division. Monitors include personnel from the Division, other DOJ divisions and components, U.S. Attorney's Offices, and federal observers from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Throughout Election Day, Division personnel will maintain contact with state and local election officials.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division said election integrity has been one of the top priorities of the Administration and the Division, and that the Division will ensure the American people receive the free and fair elections to which they are entitled through this record-setting deployment.
The DOJ has sent election monitors since the enactment of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. The Voting Section within the Civil Rights Division enforces federal statutes that protect the right to vote, including the Voting Rights Act, the National Voter Registration Act, the Help America Vote Act, the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, and the Civil Rights Acts, as well as laws prohibiting discrimination in elections based on race, color and national origin, including language minority status.
The Department said monitors will focus on jurisdictions with a history of noncompliance, recent court orders, consent decrees or settlements, or concerns raised by voters or election administrators, and that additional personnel will address any intersection with immigration-related issues. Monitors deployed under consent decrees and court orders will go to Montgomery County, Pennsylvania; Pawtucket, Rhode Island; and Cicero, Illinois.
On Election Day, the Civil Rights Division operates a command center in Washington, D.C. Members of the public can contact the Division's hotline at 1-800-253-3931 (TTY 1-877-267-8971) to report possible violations of federal voting rights laws, or file a report through the Civil Rights Division's reporting page. Anyone who observes disruptive, threatening, harassing or intimidating behavior at or around polling places may also file a complaint with the Division or with state authorities.
In addition to the monitors, the Department will make available FBI special agents and personnel, U.S. Attorneys' Offices staff, the Civil Rights Division's Criminal Section, the National Security Division and the Criminal Division's Public Integrity Section to respond to allegations of election-related misconduct. Voters who need language or disability assistance may bring a person of their choice to help them vote, as long as the helper is not their employer or an agent of their labor union. The ADA Information Line is 1-800-514-0301.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国司法部本部大楼（GSM 四级固定图库）。 / Photo: U.S. Department of Justice headquarters building (GSM fixed asset library).
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