Feds will field complaints of fraud, other abuses during election

Federal authorities will be fielding complaints of fraud and other abuses during the election.

U.S. Attorney Nicholas Trutanich announced Friday that Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie Mickelson will oversee the Nevada district office’s handling of complaints relating to fraud and the infringement of voting rights.

“Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination and to have that vote counted without it being stolen because of fraud,” Trutanich said in a statement Friday. “The Department of Justice will always act appropriately to protect the integrity of the election process.”

Federal law prohibits intimidating or bribing voters, buying or selling votes, impersonating voters, and changing vote tallies, among other things, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. It also protects voters from intimidation and harassment.

To share concerns with the U.S. Attorney’s office through Election Day on Nov. 3, call 702-388-6336.

The FBI’s Las Vegas field office also will have agents on duty to handle complaints of election abuses on Election Day, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. The local FBI field office may be reached at 702-385-1281.

Possible infringement of voting rights may be reported to the Department of Justice’s civil rights division in Washington, D.C. The division may be reached at 800-253-3931 or though an online complaint form at civilrights.justice.gov.

“Ensuring free and fair elections depends in large part on the cooperation of the American electorate,” Trutanich said in a statement. “It is imperative that those who have specific information about discrimination or election fraud make that information available to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI, or the Civil Rights Division.”

The U.S. Attorney’s office asks that cases of violence or intimidation be reported to local authorities first by calling 911.

Nevadans will also be able to report voting problems during early voting and Election Day by calling a hotline operated by a coalition called Let Nevadans Vote. The coalition is made up by the ACLU of Nevada, Silver State Voices and Institute for a Progressive Nevada.

Aside from monitoring the hotline, the coalition said in a news release Friday that it would send nonpartisan ovservers to watch voting locations in Clark and Washoe counties.

The hotline is available in multiple languages.

Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683) for English; 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA (1-888-839-8682) for Spanish; 1-888-API-VOTE (1-888-274-8683) for Asian multilingual assistance; or 1-844-YALLA-US (1-844-925-5287) for Arabic.

Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter.