The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division will dispatch 780 federal observers and department officials to 23 states to enforce federal voting rights laws on Election Day.
On top of that, the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section, district election officers in the 94 U.S. Attorney’s offices and FBI election crime coordinators at headquarters and in the 56 field offices will be on duty during polling hours to handle allegations of criminal violations on Election Day.
The announcements come as legal experts prepare for a fight akin to the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, and as voter fraud allegations spread across state lines.The efforts are part of the department’s larger Election Day Program, a decades-old initiative targeted at ensuring free and open elections.
On Election Day, the Civil Rights Division personnel will enforce election-related federal regulations, most notably the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibits voter intimidating or suppression based on race, national origin or religion.
The district election officers in the U.S. Attorney’s offices are trained coordinators for their districts, and they oversee enforcing laws barring election fraud and voter intimidation that is not based on the protected provisions under the Voting Rights Act. The officials coordinate with election crime officials based in the department’s Washington, D.C., headquarters.
Main Justice rounded up the U.S. Attorney’s office releases announcing their designated district election officer. Listed below is a selection of district election officials:
District of Columbia: Assistant U.S. Attorney Loyaan A. Egal
Western District of North Carolina: Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael E. “Mike” Savage and Don Gast
Eastern District of Kentucky: Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Taylor
Western District of Kentucky: Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Dyke
Western District of Virginia: Principal Assistant U.S. Attorney Sharon Burnham
Eastern District of Wisconsin:Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Frohling
Western District of Wisconsin: Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Jarosz
Eastern District of Pennsylvania: Assistant United States Attorney Richard P. Barrett
Middle District of Pennsylvania: Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division Eric Pfisterer will serve as the officer for the Harrisburg office; Assistant U.S. Attorney William Houser will serve as the election officer for the Scranton office; and Assistant U.S. Attorney George Rocktashel will serve as the election officer for the Williamsport office.
District of Maryland: Assistant U.S. Attorney Tonya N. Kelly
District of Arizona: Assistant U.S. Attorney Dominic Lanza
Southern District of Indiana: Assistant U.S. Attornet Joe Vaughn
Eastern District of California: Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin C. Khasigian
Northern District of Illinois: Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Heinze
