US Department of Justice to Monitor SC1 Election

Tuesday's Special Election in the First Congressional District will be monitored by the Justice Department the agency announced on Monday.

The monitoring is for the purpose of complying with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibits discrimination in the election process on the basis of race, color or membership in a minority language group.  

Portions of the Voting Rights Act could be removed this year as the Supreme Court reconsiders its relevance.

In a press release the Department of Justice said:

"Under the Voting Rights Act, the Justice Department is authorized to ask the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to send federal observers to jurisdictions that are certified by the attorney general or by a federal court order. Federal observers will be assigned to monitor polling place activities in Dorchester County based on the attorney general’s certification...the observers will watch and record activities during voting hours at polling locations in these jurisdictions, and Civil Rights Division attorneys will coordinate the federal activities and maintain contact with local election officials.

"In addition, Justice Department personnel will monitor polling place activities in Beaufort, Berkeley, and Charleston Counties in South Carolina.  Civil Rights Division attorneys will coordinate federal activities and maintain contact with local election officials."

"Each year, the Justice Department deploys hundreds of federal observers from OPM, as well as departmental staff, to monitor elections across the country.  To file complaints about discriminatory voting practices, including acts of harassment or intimidation, voters may call the Voting Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division at 1-800-253-3931."

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