EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas will be taking part in the U.S. Justice Department’s national efforts to investigate Election Day complaints of voting rights concerns, threats of violence to election officials and staff and election fraud, U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza said Friday morning, Oct. 18.
Esparza also announced Friday that Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) Matthew Devlin will lead his office’s efforts concerning complaints about the Nov. 5 general election. Devlin will serve as district election officer, Esparza said.
“Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination and to have that vote counted in a fair and free election,” Esparza said. “Similarly, election officials and staff must be able to serve without being subject to unlawful threats of violence. The Department of Justice will always work tirelessly 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 also 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,” Esparza’s office said in a statement issued Friday.
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, Esparza’s office said.
Federal law 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, Esparza’s office added.
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, Esparza’s office said.
“The franchise is the cornerstone of American democracy,” Esparza said. “We all must ensure that those who are entitled to the franchise can exercise it if they choose, and that those who seek to corrupt it are brought to justice. In order to respond to complaints of voting rights concerns and election fraud during the upcoming election, and to ensure that such complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities, AUSA/DEO Devlin will be on duty in this District while the polls are open. He can be reached by the public at (512) 916-5858.”
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 El Paso FBI field office can be reached at (915) 832-5000.
Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division in Washington DC by complaint form at the U.S. Department of Justice | Civil Rights Division or by phone at 800-253-3931.
“Ensuring free and fair elections depends in large part on the assistance of the American electorate,” Esparza said. “It is important that those who have specific information about voting rights concerns or election fraud make that information available to the Department of Justice.”
In the case of a crime of violence or intimidation at or near a polling place, call 911 immediately before contacting federal authorities, Esparza’s office said. State and local police have primary jurisdiction over polling places, and almost always have faster reaction capacity in an emergency, Esparza’s office added.
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