When voters show up at the polls on Tuesday, the U.S. Justice Department will be keeping an eye on things to make sure federal voting rights laws are being followed.
With Justice Department monitors in Miami-Dade and Broward counties on the lookout for discrimination, coercion and intimidation, the FBI on Monday went online with a command post to vet tips about actions that could cross the line into federal crimes.
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"Some of these crimes include ballot fraud, voter fraud, civil rights violations, campaign finance violations threats to election workers, and cyber security attacks on our election infrastructure, said Ryan James, FBI assistant special agent in charge.
All that while Department of Justice monitors are on the lookout for civil rights and voting rights violations.
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"Our national election crimes command post, which is based in Washington DC, houses all the DOJ personnel and we are in constant communication with, say, our Miami command post and our national elections crimes post to vet any complaints or information that come in," James said.
Voting rights enforcement today has its roots in a long history of voter suppression and polling place violence dating back to 19th century America.
Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Those laws and their amendments outlawed poll taxes and literacy tests and gave the feds the legal muscle to go after not just discrimination but also intimidation and threats.
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"The more intelligence we can share with our partners and other offices just strengthens our posture to make sure the election is fair and unencumbered," James said.
FBI agents are not involved in the collection and counting of ballots, nor are they going to be deployed armed into polling sites.
