Justice Department To Monitor Elections In Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York And Pennsylvania
Mon Nov 2, 2009
WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Nov. 3, 2009, the Justice
Department will monitor elections in the following jurisdictions to ensure
compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and other federal voting rights
statutes: the cities of Lowell and Springfield, Mass.; the city of Hamtramck,
Mich.; Middlesex County and the borough of Penns Grove, N.J.; Orange County
and Queens, N.Y., and the city of Philadelphia.
Under the Voting Rights Act, the Justice Department is authorized to ask the
U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to send federal observers to areas
that are certified by the Attorney General or by a federal court order.
Federal observers will be assigned to monitor polling place activities by
court order in Springfield and Penns Grove. Both cities are required to
provide Spanish-language assistance at the polls to voters according to the
minority language provisions of the Voting Rights Act. The observers will
watch and record activities during voting hours at polling locations in these
cities.
In addition, Justice Department personnel will monitor elections in Lowell,
Hamtramck, Middlesex County, Orange County, Queens and Philadelphia for
compliance with the Voting Rights Act.
In all of these jurisdictions, Civil Rights Division attorneys will coordinate
the federal activities and maintain contact with local election officials.
Each year, the Justice Department deploys hundreds of federal observers from
OPM, as well as departmental staff, to monitor elections across the country.
To file complaints about discriminatory voting practices, including acts of
harassment or intimidation, voters may call the Voting Section of the Justice
Department's Civil Rights Division at 1-800-253-3931.
Visit http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/index.htm for more information about the
Voting Rights Act and other federal voting laws.
SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice
U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs, +1-202-514-2007, TDD
+1-202-514-1888
© Thomson Reuters 2009.
