The Independent View: Justice Department to Monitor Election in Wisconsin

The Justice Department announced today that the Civil Rights Division will monitor the election on Tuesday, May 8, 2012, in Milwaukee. The monitoring will ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Voting Rights Act prohibits discrimination in the election process on the basis of race, color or membership in a minority language group. In addition, the act requires certain covered jurisdictions to provide language assistance during the election process.

The city of Milwaukee is required to provide assistance in Spanish.

Justice Department personnel will monitor polling place activities in Milwaukee. Civil Rights Division attorneys will coordinate federal activities and maintain contact with local election officials.

On March 23, 2012, the court entered a consent decree in United States v. Wisconsin. The consent decree remedies violations of UOCAVA alleged in the Department's complaint, which was also filed on March 23. The complaint alleges that the state violated UOCAVA when at least 65 Wisconsin municipalities failed to send ballots 45 days in advance of the April 3, 2012, presidential preference primary election to military and overseas voters who timely requested absentee ballots. The consent decree provides additional time beyond the state's existing April 6, 2012 deadline for receipt of ballots from military and overseas voters, equal to the total number of days a municipality was late in sending ballots.

Under the consent decree, municipalities will offer affected voters who have not yet received their ballots the opportunity to receive their ballots electronically. The consent decree also requires Wisconsin to closely monitor its municipalities' UOCAVA compliance, provide assistance to its municipalities when necessary and report back to the Department of Justice about its UOCAVA compliance during the 2012 federal election cycle. In addition, the consent decree requires Wisconsin to take steps to ensure compliance with UOCAVA in future federal elections and provide a report to the Department on those efforts.