Dept of Justice watching elections on 11/08 + comments on fraud

texpatriot2004

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Mon Nov-07-05 08:37 PM
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Dept of Justice watching elections on 11/08 + comments on fraud

Edited on Mon Nov-07-05 08:46 PM by texpatriot2004

Department of Justice Fact Sheet: Protecting Voting Rights and Preventing Election Fraud

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=56340

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following fact sheet on protecting voter rights and preventing election fraud was released today by the U.S. Department of Justice:

"Just one instance of fraud or one citizen who cannot exercise the power to vote .... is too many. Our work continues until every qualified citizen in every community in America has an equal chance to vote - and to have that vote count." -- Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, October 4, 2005

-- For over 30 years, the Justice Department has had an Election Day program to ensure the right of eligible voters to cast their votes and help shape the nation's political leadership.

-- The Department of Justice has responsibility for enforcing federal civil rights laws guaranteeing voting rights and for prosecuting voter fraud. The Civil Rights and Criminal Divisions of the Department of Justice are involved in election matters to ensure both ballot access and ballot integrity.

-- The Criminal Division and the Department's 93 U.S. Attorneys are responsible for enforcing the election fraud laws passed by Congress and signed by the President.

-- The Civil Rights Division is charged with enforcing the Voting Rights Act of 1965 as well as the National Voter Registration Act, both of which are designed to guarantee access to the polls on Election Day.

-- In October 2002, the Department established a new law enforcement initiative, called the Ballot Access and Voting Integrity Initiative, to provide increased protections against election fraud and voting rights abuses. The Initiative mandated increased Department-wide efforts to enforce federal civil rights laws guaranteeing voting rights as well as to deter, and if necessary, investigate and prosecute voter fraud.

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Earlier I posted something in LBN that you might find interesting. The DOJ will be watching the elections tomorrow.

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=56330

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Justice Department today announced it will send federal observers and Justice Department personnel to 16 jurisdictions in seven states to monitor elections held on Nov. 8 to ensure compliance with various federal voting rights statutes including the Voting Rights Act and the Help America Vote Act.

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 to send federal observers to areas that are specially covered in the Act itself or by a federal court order under the Act.

For eight jurisdictions, federal observer authority comes from court orders, and observers were assigned to another two jurisdictions based on the special coverage provisions.

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