The United States Attorney for Arizona, John Leonardo, announced last week that the DOJ has appointed Assistant United States Attorney Dominic Lanza to oversee the handling of complaints of election fraud and voting rights abuses in Arizona.
Lanza will work in consultation with Justice Department Headquarters in Washington.
Leonardo said that “the vote of every citizen should be counted, not stolen through fraud. The Department of Justice will act promptly and aggressively to protect the integrity of the election process.”
The DOJ says that it “seeks to ensure public confidence in the integrity of the election process by providing local points of contact within the Department, while the polls are open on Election Day.” However, the DOJ made no reference to the bi-annual complaints by Arizonans about the questionable actions of Raul Grijalva operatives.
Federal law protects against such crimes as intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes, and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input. Yet allegations of those actions were lodged against Grijalva opperatives in the race against Republican Ruth McClung.
The laws also provide special protections for the rights of voters so they can vote free from acts of intimidation or harassment. For example, federal voting rights laws should prevent operatives from intimidating voters at polling places by questioning or challenging them, yet during the Grijalva/McClung race, operatives from Mi Familia Vota were accused of doing that very thing. They were told to stop at one polling place, but no other action was taken.
According to the DOJ, this year in order to respond to complaints of election fraud or voting rights abuses on November 6, 2012, and to ensure that such complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities, United States Attorney Leonardo stated that AUSA/DEO Lanza will be on duty in this District while the polls are open. He can be reached by the public at (602) 908-8534.
In addition, the FBI will have special agents available in each field office and resident agency throughout the country to receive allegations of election fraud and other election abuses on Election Day. The local FBI field office can be reached by the public at (623) 466-1999.