JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TO MONITOR ELECTION IN ALASKA

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department today announced that it will send Civil Rights Division personnel to monitor the October 5 municipal and borough elections in Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska to ensure compliance with federal election-related civil rights statutes.

Each year, the Department of Justice deploys hundreds of observers and attorneys to monitor elections across the country. In 2002, the Department coordinated and sent 608 federal observers and 221 Department personnel to 40 counties in 17 states to monitor 60 elections and ensure access to the polls. In 2003, the Department coordinated and sent 380 federal observers and 136 Department personnel to monitor 42 elections in 26 political subdivisions in 14 states. This year, including these elections, the Department has coordinated and sent 467 federal observers and 262 Department personnel to monitor 73 elections in 66 counties in 19 states. This exceeds the 449 federal observers and 67 Division personnel deployed to 35 elections in 10 states in all of 2000, including those sent during the November general election.

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.

More information about the Voting Rights Act and other federal voting laws is available at www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/index.htm.

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