Election 2016: Justice Department Issues Warning on Poll Harassment

ATLANTA, GA — The U.S. Justice Department is urging those who would style themselves as election monitors to not overstep their bounds and leave the policing of polling places to the professionals.

At the same time, U.S. Attorney John Horn, of the Northern District of Georgia, urged anyone who legitimately believes they've witnessed voter fraud to contact his office or other federal agencies.

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

Specifically, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has repeatedly urged his supporters to volunteer as "monitors" on Election Day and watch activity at polling places where they suspect fraud may be happening.

Those calls have raised concerns among voting-rights activists, who say the call can be interpreted as encouraging voter intimidation at the polls — especially if precincts in minority neighborhoods are targeted.

Horn's statement makes it clear that federal authorities will frown upon so-called monitors taking their activities too far.

"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," the Justice Department statement said.

As for voter fraud, Horn said his office is gearing up to handle any complaints that arise.

Assistant U.S. Attorney William Toliver has been named District Election Officer for north Georgia. In that role, he will be responsible for overseeing the district's handling of both election-fraud complaints and voting rights abuses.

He'll be working in conjunction with the Justice Department headquarters in Washington, D.C. His office can be reached on Election Day at (404) 581-6001.

FBI agents also will be in the field to handle fraud and abuse complaints. The Atlanta-area FBI field office can be reached by the public at (404) 679-9000.

The Justice Department's Election Day program "seeks to ensure public confidence in the integrity of the election process by providing local points of contact within the department for the public to report possible election fraud and voting rights violations while the polls are open on election day."

Complaints about possible violations of federal voting-rights laws also can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section in Washington, D.C., by phone at 1-800-253-3931 or (202) 307-2767 or by fax at (202) 307-3961.

They may also be sent by email at voting.section@usdoj.gov or by an online complaint form.

"Ensuring free and fair elections depends in large part on the cooperation of the American electorate," Horn said. "It is imperative that those who have specific information about discrimination or election fraud make that information available immediately to my office, the FBI, or the Civil Rights Division."

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