AMERICA DECIDES: PAT MEADOWS TO RECEIVE COMPLAINTS OF VOTING RIGHTS ABUSES

Vance appointed Meadows and Albin to serve as the district election officers for the Northern District of Alabama, and in that capacity they are responsible for overseeing the district’s handling of any complaints of election fraud or voting rights abuses in consultation with Justice Department headquarters in Washington, D.C.

“Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination, and to have that vote counted without it being stolen because of fraud,” Vance said. The Department of Justice will act promptly and aggressively to protect the integrity of the election process,” Vance said.

The Department of Justice has an important role in deterring election fraud and discrimination at the polls, and combating these violations whenever and wherever they occur. The department’s long-standing Election Day Program furthers these goals, and also seeks to ensure public confidence in the integrity of the election process by providing local points of contact within the department so the public may report possible election fraud and voting rights violations while the polls are open on election day.

Federal law protects against such crimes as intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes, and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input.
It also contains special protections for the rights of voters and provides that they can vote free from acts that intimidate or harass them.




For example, actions designed to interrupt or intimidate voters at polling places by questioning or challenging them, or by photographing or videotaping them under the pretext that these are actions to uncover illegal voting, may violate federal voting rights law. Further, federal law protects the right of voters to mark their own ballot or to be assisted by a person of their choice.

The right to vote is the cornerstone of American democracy. “We all must ensure that those who are entitled to the franchise exercise it if they so choose, and that those who seek to corrupt it are brought to justice”, Vance noted.