Justice Department to Monitor Election in Philadelphia

WASHINGTON, May 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On May 19, 2009, the Justice
Department will monitor the election in the city of Philadelphia to ensure
compliance with federal voting rights laws.

Justice Department staff members will monitor polling place activities in
Philadelphia. A Civil Rights Division attorney will coordinate the federal
activities and maintain contact with local election officials. In April 2007,
the Justice Department reached a settlement agreement with Philadelphia
related to allegations that the city had violated the Voting Rights Act of
1965, the Help America Vote Act and the National Voter Registration Act.
Philadelphia has an obligation to provide all election information, ballots
and voting assistance information in Spanish according to Section 203 of the
Voting Rights Act. The monitors will gather information concerning compliance
with this requirement and other federal voting rights statutes.

Each year, the Justice Department deploys hundreds of federal observers from
the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and departmental staff to monitor
elections across the country. In 2008, for example, 1,060 federal observers
and 344 Department personnel were sent to monitor 114 elections in 76
jurisdictions in 24 states. To file complaints about discriminatory voting
practices, including acts of harassment or intimidation, voters may call the
Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division at 1-800-253-3931.

More information about the Voting Rights Act and other federal voting laws is
available on the Civil Rights Division Web site at
www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/index.htm.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Justice, +1-202-514-2007, TDD +1-202-514-1888