Justice Department Agents To Monitor Philly Polling Places Tuesday

The U.S. Justice Department will have agents monitoring Philadelphia polling places to ensure voters are not met with resistance when attempting to cast ballots Tuesday, the department said Monday.

According to a press release, the department's Civil Rights Division will have agents in the city, as well as 66 other jurisdictions in 27 other states, to "to see to it that every eligible voter can participate in our elections to the full extent that federal law provides."

"The bedrock of our democracy is the right to vote, and the Department of Justice works tirelessly to uphold that right not only on Election Day, but every day,” Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said in the release. "We enforce federal statutes related to voting through a range of activities– including filing our own litigation when the facts warrant, submitting statements of interest in private lawsuits to help explain our understanding of these laws, and providing guidance to election officials and the general public about what these laws mean and what they require."

Lynch said agents will act "impartially" when enforcing the federal voting rights laws that protect the rights of all citizens to access ballots.

"The department is deeply committed to the fair and unbiased application of our voting rights laws and we will work tirelessly to ensure that every eligible person that wants to do so is able to cast a ballot," she said.

The department will gather information on:

• whether voters are subject to different voting qualifications or procedures on the basis of race, color or membership in a language minority group;
• whether jurisdictions are complying with the minority language provisions of the Voting Rights Act;
• whether jurisdictions permit voters to receive assistance by a person of his or her choice if the voter is blind, has a disability or is unable to read or write;
• whether jurisdictions provide polling locations and voting systems allowing voters with disabilities to cast a private and independent ballot;
• whether jurisdictions comply with the voter registration list requirements of the National Voter Registration Act;
• and whether jurisdictions comply with the provisional ballot requirements of the Help America Vote Act.

The department will be sending out agents who speak Spanish and a variety of Asian and Native American languages to help ensure voters are not impeded illegally.

Patch previously reported on a white supremacist group that planned to disrupt the election in Philadelphia. Read that story here. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has called the election process rigged during his campaign and even called for his supporters to watch polling places to "Help (Trump) Stop Crooked Hillary From Rigging This Election."

The department said Civil Rights Division lawyers will be available via a hotline starting Tuesday morning at 1-800-253-3931; (202)307-2767, or TTY (202)305-0082.

The department said complaints should be filed immediately with any of the local U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, the local FBI offices or the Public Integrity Section at (202) 514-1412.

Click here to see a full list of areas the department's Civil Rights Divisions will be monitoring Tuesday.

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