The U.S. Attorney’s Office has opened a hotline to address any and all voter concerns on Election Day, which will be live staffed on Tuesday and remain open until November 11th.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy. Citizens must be free to vote without interference or discrimination, and election officials must be free to serve without threats of violence,” U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said in a statement.
“In coordination with the Department’s Election Day Program, our office will do everything in its power to protect the rights of voters and election workers throughout New Jersey.”
The Election Day Hotline can be reached at 888-636-6596 to report voting rights concerns, threats against election officials, or any other activity that would interfere with the right to vote anywhere in New Jersey.
Federal law protects against such crimes as threatening violence against election officials or staff, 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 interference, including intimidation, and other acts designed to prevent or discourage people from voting or voting for the candidate of their choice.
Furthermore, the Voting Rights Act protects the right of voters to mark their own ballot or to be assisted by a person of their choice (where voters need assistance because of disability or inability to read or write in English).
In addition to the Election Day Hotline, 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 FBI can be reached by the public at 973-792-3000, while complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws, or any civil rights violation, can be made at any time to the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Civil Rights Hotline, 855-281-3339.
Additionally, online complaints can be submitted here or to the Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C., by phone at 800-253-3931 or by complaint form here.
