US Justice Department sends 1,000 observers to polling stations — Rolling Stone

The US Department of Justice announced that it is sending 1,000 federal observers to polling stations in critically important election races across all 50 states. The work will involve staff from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, employees of other departmental units, US attorneys’ offices, and federal observers from the Office of Personnel Management, Rolling Stone reports.

Observers’ work

Federal observers will be sent, among other places, to Texas, Georgia, Michigan, Maine, Iowa, and Minnesota. Civil Rights Division head Harmeet Dhillon said that division staff would remain in contact with representatives of state election authorities and local officials throughout voting day.

The Justice Department also published a hotline for reporting alleged violations of election law. According to local media, including NBC Connecticut, cited by Rolling Stone, observers may be present at polling stations in civilian clothes without identifying themselves as representatives of the Justice Department or law enforcement.

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Claims of possible violations

On the eve of voting day, President Donald Trump made allegations of fraud in certain competitive races. In October, he said that he would recognize the election results if he considered them fair.

The administration also accused Alaska Democrat Mary Peltola of fraud. This followed reports that her campaign recruited a candidate with the same name as Republican Dan Sullivan to enter the race in order to draw away votes. Trump called for Peltola to be barred from participating in the election. On Monday, a federal judge dismissed the administration’s lawsuit over warnings concerning the certification of results in the state should Sullivan lose.