CR (202) 514-2007WWW.USDOJ.GOV
TDD (202) 514-1888
CITY OF HAMTRAMCK, MICHIGAN TO REVAMP ELECTION
PROCEDURES TO PREVENT VOTER DISCRIMINATION UNDER JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SETTLEMENT
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The City of Hamtramck, Michigan will revamp its election procedures to ensure that all voters are treated equally, under an agreement reached today with the Justice Department. The agreement resolves a government suit alleging violations of the Voting Rights Act aimed at Arab-American voters in the November 1999 election.
The agreement stems from an investigation that began after the Justice Department received complaints from Arab-American voters in Hamtramck that their citizenship had been challenged by private citizens during the November 1999 general election. As a result of those challenges, Arab-American voters and other dark-skinned voters, such as Bengali-Americans, were required by pollworkers to take a citizenship oath prior to being permitted to vote. This requirement was not imposed on white voters.
"The City Clerk of Hamtramck and other city officers have worked cooperatively with us to develop an agreement that will ensure that all voters can be certain that election officials will not allow them to be harassed when they go to polls," said Assistant Attorney General Bill Lann Lee. "It is vitally important that persons of all ethnicities be treated fairly when they exercise the most precious right of citizenship -- the right to vote -- in America."
Under the agreement, which must be approved by the federal district court, the City Clerk will establish a training program to train election officials and private citizens regarding the proper grounds for election challenges. Election officials will be trained to remove citizens registered as challengers and who appear to be discriminating against voters based on their race, color or ethnicity. Persons who have been convicted of voter intimidation will not be permitted to act as challengers. The City Clerk will also prepare notices in English, Arabic, and Bengali to inform voters regarding the new practices, and will hire bilingual workers on election day.
The agreement also provides that federal election monitors may observe elections in order to ensure that voters are not being racially targeted. "This agreement will ensure that all voters, regardless of their race, color, or ethnic origin, will be treated with equal dignity and respect at the polls," said Saul A. Green, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan.
In addition to the agreement with Hamtramck, the state of Michigan has issued a memorandum to all election clerks in the state instructing them that discriminatory challenges should not be allowed to proceed, and reminding clerks that they have the power to expel challengers who abuse the challenge process.
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