PRESS RELEASE BY UNITED STATES ATTORNEY RELATING TO NOVEMBER 2022 GENERAL ELECTION

    Hagatña, Guam – SHAWN N. ANDERSON, United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands announced today the assignment of Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSA) to lead the efforts of the United States Attorney’s Office in connection with the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program for the upcoming November 8, 2022, general election.  AUSA Marivic P. David will serve as the District Election Officer (DEO) for the District of Guam and AUSA Eric S. O’Malley will serve as the DEO for the District of the Northern Mariana Islands. These AUSAs are responsible for overseeing the district’s handling of election day complaints of voting rights concerns, threats of violence to election officials or staff, and election fraud, in consultation with Justice Department Headquarters in Washington DC.

    United States Attorney Anderson said, “Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination and have that vote counted in a fair and free election.  Similarly, election officials and staff must be able to serve without being subject to unlawful threats of violence.  The Department of Justice will dedicate its resources to protect the integrity of the election process.”

    The Department of Justice has an important role in deterring and combatting discrimination and intimidation at the polls, threats of violence directed at election officials and poll workers, and election fraud.  The Department will address these violations wherever they occur.  The Department’s longstanding Election Day Program furthers these goals and seeks to ensure public confidence in the electoral process by providing local points of contact within the Department for the public to report possible federal election law violations.

    Federal law protects against such crimes as threatening violence against election officials or staff, intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes, and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input.  It also contains special protections for the rights of voters, and provides that they can vote free from interference, including intimidation, and other acts designed to prevent or discourage people from voting or voting for the candidate of their choice.  The Voting Rights Act protects the right of voters to mark their own ballot or to be assisted by a person of their choice (where voters need assistance because of disability or inability to read or write in English).  

    The franchise is the cornerstone of American democracy.  We all must ensure that those who are entitled to the franchise exercise it if they choose, and that those who seek to corrupt it are brought to justice. In order to respond to complaints of election fraud or voting rights concerns during the voting period that ends on November 8, 2022, and to ensure that such complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities, DEOs will be on duty while the polls are open, including periods of early voting.  Ms. David can be reached by the public at (671) 479-4120 or (671) 988-3260.  Mr. O’Malley can be contacted at (670) 236-2986.

    In addition, the FBI will have special agents available in each field office and resident agency throughout the country to receive allegations of election fraud and other election abuses on election day.  The public can contact the FBI at the following numbers:

• Honolulu Field Office 24/7 (808) 566-4300
• Guam Office (671) 472-7465
• Northern Mariana Islands Office (670) 322-6934

    Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division in Washington, DC by phone at 800-253-3931 or by complaint form at https://civilrights.justice.gov/ .

    Please note, however, in the case of a crime of violence or intimidation, please call 911 immediately and before contacting federal authorities.  Local police have primary jurisdiction over polling places, and almost always have faster reaction capacity in an emergency.