Justice Department to Monitor Tuesday’s Election in 28 States

Personnel from the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division will be deployed to polling sites in 28 states to monitor Tuesday’s election.

They will dispatching more than 500 monitors.

The number is a reduction of about a third from the more than 780 monitors who were deployed during the 2012 election. On Tuesday they will be stationed in 67 Jurisdictions across the Country to keep track of any voting irregularities. They will be watching for voting rights violations, such as whether voters are discriminated against because of their races or languages.

Of the 500 people who will be deployed, those sent to Alabama, Alaska, California, Louisiana, and New York will be election “observers” with full access to the polls.

Those dispatched to the other 23 states will be “monitors,” meaning they don’t have the statutory authority to access polling sites, which will have to be granted by State and Local authorities.

This is a result of the 2013 Supreme Court decision striking down parts of the Voting Rights Act, which limits the Justice Department’s ability to send observers with unrestricted access.

Voters should report any threats of violence or intimidation to the police, and alert their local Election officials about any disruptions at their polling place, the department said on Monday.

Lawyers with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, which enforces Federal voting rights laws, will also staff a hotline on Election Day.











NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker