While the polls are open on Election Day, November 6, Assistant United States Attorney Hal Goldsmith will be standing by to take your call – at (314) 539-7733 – to receive any complaints of election fraud and voting rights abuses.
“Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination and to have that vote counted without it being stolen because of fraud,” said Jeff Jensen, the United States attorney for Eastern Missouri. “The Department of Justice will act promptly and aggressively to protect the integrity of the election process.”
Goldsmith has a long history prosecuting public corruption and corporate fraud on both sides of the Mississippi River.
Jensen reminded the public that 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 of persons 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.
In addition, the FBI will have special agents available in each field office and resident agency throughout the country to receive allegations of election fraud and other election abuses on election day. The local FBI field office can be reached by the public at (314) 231-4325 or (314) 589-2563.
Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws also can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section in Washington, DC by phone at 1-800-253-3931 or (202) 307-2767, by fax at (202) 307-3961, by email to voting.section@usdoj.gov or by complaint form at http://www.justice.gov/crt/complaint/votintake/index.php.
