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FEDERAL OBSERVERS DISPATCHED TO MONITOR MISSISSIPPI ELECTIONS
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In an effort to preserve the integrity of the voting process, the Justice Department will dispatch 158 federal observers to 14 Mississippi counties to monitor Tuesday's primary election for state and county offices.
Under the Voting Rights Act, which protects the rights of Americans to participate in the electoral process without discrimination , the Justice Department is authorized to ask the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to send federal observers to areas that are specially covered by the Act.
In nine counties, 141 observers will monitor the treatment of African American voters, including whether they are able to receive assistance from the person of their choice and whether they are improperly turned away by poll workers. The counties include: Amite (17); Chickasaw (19); Coahoma (17); Covington (10); Humphreys (13); Marshall (17); Noxubee (8); Quitman (14); and Tunica (26).
An additional 17 observers will be sent to five more counties to monitor the provision of language assistance to Choctaw voters who have limited English skills. The counties include: Jones (4), Kemper (2); Leake (3); Neshoba (6); and, Newton (2). Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act requires those counties to provide effective language assistance to allow Choctaw speaking voters to participate as effectively in the electoral process as other voters.
The observers, who are supervised by OPM, will watch and record activities during voting hours at the polling locations. Fourteen Justice Department attorneys will coordinate the federal activities and maintain contact with local election officials.
To lodge complaints about discriminatory voting practices in this election, voters may call the federal examiner at 1-888-496-9455. At all times, complaints about discriminatory voting practices may be called-in to the Voting Section of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division at 1-800-253-3931.
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