Election officers on duty to receive fraud complaints

Tammy Dickinson, US attorney for the Missouri Western District, announced that Assistant US Attorney Patrick D. Daly will serve as the Missouri Western District election officer and will oversee the district’s handling of complaints of election fraud and voting rights abuses.

The department of justice seeks to ensure public confidence in the integrity of the election process by providing local points of contact for the public to report possible election fraud and voting rights violations while the polls are open on election day.

Federal law prohibits 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 provides that voters can vote free from acts that intimidate or harass them. For example, anyone who interrupts or intimidates voters at polling places by questioning or challenging them or photographing or videotaping them under the pretext of  uncovering illegal voting may be in violation of 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 order to respond to complaints of election fraud on November 8, Daly will be on duty in this district while the polls are open. He can be reached at 816.426.3000.

The FBI’s Kansas City office will also have special agents available to receive allegations of election abuses. The public can provide information to the FBI’s Kansas City office at 1.855.527.2847 or email kcpctip@ic.fbi.gov.

Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made 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 justice.gov/crt/complaint/votintake/index.php.