U.S. Attorney’s Office gears up to protect election integrity

United States Attorney John W. Vaudreuil of the Western District of Wisconsin and United States Attorney James L. Santelle of the Eastern District of Wisconsin announced Oct. 19 that they have appointed Assistant U.S. Attorneys to lead efforts in connection with the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program for the Nov. 6.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Jarosz has been appointed to serve as the election officer for the Western District of Wisconsin, which covers Madison and about the western two-thirds of the state. Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Frohling has been appointed to serve as the election officer for the Eastern District, which covers Milwaukee and about the eastern one-third of the state. As election officers, Jarosz and Frohling are responsible for overseeing their District’s handling of complaints of election fraud and voting rights abuses in consultation with the Justice Department in Washington.

United States Attorney Vaudreuil said, “Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination and to have that vote counted without it being stolen because of fraud. The Department of Justice will act promptly and aggressively to protect the integrity of the election process.”

United States Attorney Santelle added, “The franchise is the cornerstone of American democracy. We all must ensure that those who are entitled to the franchise exercise it if they choose, and that those who seek to corrupt it are brought to justice.”

Ten years ago, the Justice Department established a nationwide Ballot Access and Voting Integrity Initiative. The goal of this ongoing initiative is to increase the department’s ability to deter election fraud and discrimination at the polls and to prosecute these offenses whenever and wherever they occur. The department’s 2012 Election Day Program furthers these goals and 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.

In order to respond to complaints of election fraud or voting rights abuses on Nov. 6 and to ensure that such complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities, Jarosz and Frohling will be on duty in their districts while the polls are open. Call Jarosz at 608-658-3743 or Frohling at 414-297-4528.

In addition, 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 in Madison can be reached at 608-833-4600 and in Milwaukee at 414-276-4684.

Complaints about ballot access problems or discrimination can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section in Washington at 800-253-3931 or 202-307-2767.

In a joint statement, United States Attorneys Vaudreuil and Santelle explained,

“The effectiveness of the program depends in large part on the watchfulness and cooperation of the electorage, Vaudreeil and Santelle agree. They said it is imperative that anyone with specific information about discrimination or election fraud makes that information available immediately to our offices, the FBI, or the Civil Rights Division.

Tags: news, elections, government, wisconsin