Officials brace for Election Day problems amid feverish campaigns
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Nov. 5—With a highly contentious election at hand and incidents elsewhere, local voting advocates, election officials and the region's chief federal prosecutor aim to head off problems.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bruce D. Brandler, Michael Consiglio, Geoffrey MacArthur and James Buchanan will handle complaints about voting rights infringement, threats of violence to election officials or staff and election fraud.
"We believe any type of threat to an election worker or voter is a threat to our democracy. And we believe it's part of our job to safeguard the electoral process," U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam said in an interview this week.
The rising fears about violence come after the hammer attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, along with the harassment and physical attack on a Democratic western Pennsylvania House candidate and reports of people taking pictures of voters dropping off ballots at Chester County drop boxes.
People with complaints can call the U.S. Attorney's Office in Scranton at 570-348-2800. The FBI will also have special agents available to listen to allegations of election fraud and other election abuses.
The local FBI field office can be reached at 215-418-4000. Voting rights violations may also be reported to the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division at 800-253-3931 or by filling out a complaint form at civilrights.justice.gov.
He urged people to call 911 first in cases of violence or intimidation because local authorities can respond more quickly.
Federal law forbids threatening violence against election officials or staff, intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes and marking ballots for voters against their wishes. It also protects voters from interference and intimidation.
Karam declined to say if his office has already received complaints. Former U.S. Attorney David Freed had a similar Election Day program two years ago.
During a news conference Tuesday with voting rights advocates, Jill Greene, voting and elections manager at Common Cause PA, told reporters the group has received reports of people "monitoring drop boxes, taking photos and videos of voters as they're dropping off their ballots."
"We're seeing this particularly in Chester County. But the bottom line is voters, no matter how they decide to vote, voters should be able to vote without intimidation or fear," Greene said.
Elections officials in local counties said they haven't received any threats to workers or heard other complaints so far.
"So far, things are calm here in Pike," Pike County elections director Nadeen Manzoni said in an email. "We were bracing for trouble in 2020 and it turned out to be a great day with everyone being patient and civil. We are hoping for the same this election as well."
Wayne County elections director Cindy Furman said, "No reports of threats, and hopefully we won't get any."
Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9147; @BorysBlogTT on Twitter.
