DALLAS (1080 KRLD)- The Dallas US Attorney's office has tabbed one of its assistants to oversee complaints of election day irregularities in the Nov. 3 general election.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Damian Diggs will be "responsible for overseeing the District's handling of complaints of election fraud and voting rights concerns in consultation with Justice Department Headquarters in Washington." the US Attorney's Office said in a news release.
The appointment of a federal prosecutor has been a tradition with US Attorney's offices across the country over the last several general elections. This year the normally-routine appointment takes on a whole new meaning.
"There's suspicion probably like never before that there is uncertainty about the voting process and there's suspicion like never before that this particular Department of Justice is politicizing that issue." said Matthew Orwig, former US Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas. He says if both Republicans and Democrats see the appointed official as a fair person, the amount of concern drops.
In almost every election, there are reports of irregularities, but most do not rise to the level of a federal violation, said Orwig.
"Federal law protects against such crimes as intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes, and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input." said the US Attorney news release. "It also contains special protections for the rights of voters, and provides that they can vote free from acts that intimidate or harass them. For example, actions of persons designed to interrupt or intimidate voters at polling places by questioning or challenging them, or by photographing or videotaping them, under the pretext that these are actions to uncover illegal voting may violate federal voting rights law. Further, federal law protects the right of voters to mark their own ballot or to be assisted by a person of their choice (where voters need assistance because of disability or illiteracy)."
