WASHINGTON - The Justice Department today announced that on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2008, it will monitor the presidential primary election in Broward County, Fla., to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act.
Justice Department personnel will monitor polling place activities in Broward County. A Civil Rights Division attorney will coordinate the federal activities and maintain contact with local election officials.
Broward County has an obligation under Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act to provide all election information, ballots and voting assistance information in Spanish as well as in English. The monitors will gather information concerning compliance.
Each year, the Justice Department deploys hundreds of federal observers from the Office of Personnel Management, as well as departmental staff, to monitor elections across the country. During calendar year 2004, a record 1,463 federal observers and 533 Department personnel were sent to monitor 163 elections in 106 jurisdictions in 29 states. This compares to the 640 federal observers and 110 Department personnel deployed during the entire 2000 presidential calendar year.
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 on the Department of Justice web site at http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/index.htm.
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