Justice Department to Monitor Elections in Michigan,
New York and Ohio

The Justice Department announced today that it will monitor elections on Nov. 5, 2013, in Detroit and Hamtramck, Mich.; Orange County, N.Y.; and Cuyahoga and Lorain Counties, Ohio.  The monitoring is designed to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in the election process on the basis of race, color or membership in a minority language group. 

In Cuyahoga, Lorain and Orange Counties, the Department will assign federal observers from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to monitor polling place activities based on court orders.  The observers will watch and record activities during voting hours at polling locations in these jurisdictions and Civil Rights Division attorneys will coordinate the federal activities and maintain contact with local election officials.

In addition, Justice Department personnel will monitor polling place activities in Detroit and Hamtramck.  Civil Rights Division attorneys will coordinate federal activities and maintain contact with local election officials.

Each year, the department deploys federal observers from OPM, as well as departmental staff, to monitor elections across the country.  To file complaints about discriminatory voting practices, including acts of harassment or intimidation, voters may call the Voting Section of the department’s Civil Rights Division at 1-800-253-3931.

Visit www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/ for more information about the Voting Rights Act and other federal voting rights laws.