The announcement comes after Donald Trump encouraged his supporters to monitor polling stations in “certain areas” of the country.
Early voting in Miami, Florida.
Lynne Sladky / AP
The Department of Justice will deploy hundreds of personnel its civil rights division to 28 states on election day to ensure that no one is discriminated against or intimated from voting, the department announce Monday.
“The bedrock of our democracy is the right to vote," U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement.
She added that the DOJ has regularly monitored elections since 1965 when the Voting Rights Act, which aims to prevent racial discrimination in voting, was passed.
"Our personnel will perform these duties impartially, with one goal in mind: to see to it that every eligible voter can participate in our elections to the full extent that federal law provides," she continued. "We will work tirelessly to ensure that every eligible person that wants to do so is able to cast a ballot.”
The monitors will not be looking for election fraud but will focus on whether "voters are subject to different voting qualifications or procedures on the basis of race, color or membership in a language minority group," as well as whether the laws put in place to help voters with disabilities are being abided by. To this purpose, many of the monitors are fluent in Spanish and a "variety of Asian and Native American languages" the department said.
This announcement comes after repeated claims by GOP nominee Donald Trump that the election will be "rigged" against him, as well as suggestions by Trump and his campaign that Trump supporters "monitor" the polling stations to make sure there is no foul play, particularly in "certain areas" of Philadelphia and Chicago with high minority populations, both of which are on the DOJ monitoring list.
Some of Trump's supporters interpreted his statements to mean they should engage in "racial profiling" and intimidation.
“Trump said to watch your precincts. I’m going to go, for sure,” a 61-year-old Ohio voter named Steve Webb told the Boston Globe in October. “I’ll look for … well, it’s called racial profiling. Mexicans. Syrians. People who can’t speak American.”
“I’m going to go right up behind them. I’ll do everything legally. I want to see if they are accountable,” he continued. “I’m not going to do anything illegal. I’m going to make them a little bit nervous.”
This will be the first presidential election since major parts of the Voting Rights Act were struck down by the Supreme Court in 2013, enabling many Southern states to implement restrictions that will make it more difficult for many residents to vote.
At the time the changes were made, Chief Justice John Roberts argued that the country had "changed."
“While any racial discrimination in voting is too much," he wrote in the decision, "Congress must ensure that the legislation it passes to remedy that problem speaks to current conditions.” At the time President Obama said he was "deeply disappointed" in the decision.
Beginning Monday, the DOJ opened up a hotline for people to report violations of voting rights and voter intimidation and discrimination, in addition, they also encouraged anyone experiencing it to immediately alert law enforcement.
The numbers to call are 1-800-253-3931 or 202-307-2767. Also, complaints by email can be made at voting.section@usdoj.gov or by a form on the department’s website.
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/2fLKybM
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