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Press release from the Office of the US Attorney

DES MOINES, IA – United States Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefeldt announced that the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa will be available to take complaints alleging election fraud or voting rights violations for the general elections on November 2, 2010, as part of a coordinated effort by the Justice Department. The Southern District of Iowa is comprised of the 47 counties in the southern half of Iowa, roughly from I-80 south, and includes the communities of Ames, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Des Moines, Iowa City, and Marshalltown.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Scorpiniti serves as the office’s District Election Officer and is responsible for overseeing the District’s handling of complaints of election fraud andvoting rights abuses in consultation with Justice Department Headquarters. On election day, she can be reached at 515-473-9300. The Federal Bureau of Investigation also will have agents available to handle complaints of election fraud.

Voter fraud complaints also may be directed to the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section at 202-514-1412. Additionally, complaints about ballot access or discrimination can also be made directly to the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section at 1-800-253-3931 or 202- 307-2767.

In October 2002, the Justice Department established a Ballot Access and Voting Integrity Initiative to make voting easier and cheating more difficult by increasing the Department’s ability both to deter election fraud and discrimination at the polls and to prosecute those offenses wherever they occur. The Justice Department’s longstanding Election Day Program ensures public confidence in the integrity of the election process by providing local points of contact for reporting possible election fraud or voting rights violations while the polls are still open.