MISSISSIPPI COUNTIES TO BE MONITORED FOR COMPLIANCE WITH THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965

The following story is an excerpt from the U.S. Department of Justice website:

Department of Justice

Monday, August 1, 2011
Justice Department to Monitor Elections in Mississippi
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced today that it will monitor primary elections on Aug. 2, 2011, in Bolivar, Clay, Copiah, Humphreys, Jefferson Davis, Noxubee, Panola, Quitman, Sunflower, Tallahatchie and Wilkinson Counties in Mississippi to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Voting Rights Act prohibits discrimination in the election process on the basis of race, color or membership in a minority language group.
Under the Voting Rights Act, the Justice Department is authorized to ask the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to send federal observers to jurisdictions that are certified by the attorney general or by a federal court order. Federal observers will be assigned to monitor polling place activities in these 11 counties based on the attorney general’s certification. The observers will watch and record activities during voting hours at polling locations, and Civil Rights Division attorneys will coordinate the federal activities and maintain contact with local election officials.”