FEDERAL OBSERVERS TO MONITOR MISSISSIPPI ELECTION

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Justice Department will send ten federal observers to monitor the special municipal general election in the town of Centreville, Mississippi on Tuesday, February 12, 2002.

Under the Voting Rights Act, which protects the rights of Americans to participate in the electoral process without discrimination, the Justice Department is authorized to ask the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to send federal observers to areas that are specially covered in the Act.

The federal observers will monitor the treatment of African American voters, including whether they are improperly turned away by poll workers.

The observers, who are supervised by OPM, will watch and record activities during voting hours at the polling location and the counting of ballots after the polls close. A Justice Department attorney will coordinate the federal activities and maintain contact with local election officials.

To file complaints about discriminatory voting practices in this election, voters may call the federal examiner at 1-888-496-9455. At all times, complaints about discriminatory voting practices may be called in to the Voting Section of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division at 1-800-253-3931.

More information about the Voting Rights Act and other federal voting laws is available on the Department of Justice Internet site at http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting.

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