Federal Observers to Monitor Polls
The Justice Department dispatched 212 federal election observers to polling places in five states Monday to ensure that blacks and American Indians are given the right to vote in today’s elections.
Most of the observers will be sent to counties in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah that have large populations of American Indians, Justice Department spokeswoman Amy Casner said.
Twenty-five of the observers will go to San Juan County, Utah, which has signed two consent decrees that require it to adopt procedures to assist Navajo-speaking voters at polling places.
The observers, employed by the Office of Personnel Management, will also be sent to a county in North Carolina and another in South Carolina to make sure that black voters are not denied the right to vote, Casner said.
In addition to the observers, 17 Justice Department attorneys will be assigned to the seven counties, said John R. Dunne, assistant attorney general for civil rights.
The department said it was sending 43 observers to Apache County, Ariz.; 39 to Navajo County, Ariz.; 21 to McKinley County, N.M., and 24 to Sandoval County, N.M. In addition, 36 observers were being sent to Edgecombe County, N.C., and 24 to Chester County, S.C.
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