United States Attorney Appoints District Election Officers for November 2016 Balloting

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian announced today that Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSAs) Carl Eurenius in Syracuse and Solomon Shinerock in Albany will lead the efforts of his Office in connection with the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program for the upcoming November 8, 2016, general elections.  AUSA Eurenius and AUSA Shinerock have been appointed to serve as the District Election Officers (DEOs) for the Northern District of New York and in that capacity are responsible for overseeing the District’s handling of complaints of election fraud and voting rights abuses in consultation with Justice Department Headquarters in Washington.

            United States Attorney Hartunian said, “Our constitutional system of representative government depends on the protection of the right of every citizen to vote.  We will act promptly and aggressively to address any efforts to deny or abridge voting rights, and to combat election fraud.  Anyone with specific information about fraud, discrimination, or other interference with the integrity of the election process should make that information available immediately to my Office, the FBI, or the Civil Rights Division.”

            The Department of Justice has an important role in deterring election fraud and discrimination at the polls, and combating these violations whenever and wherever they occur.  The Department’s long-standing Election Day Program furthers these goals, and also seeks to ensure public confidence in the integrity of the election process by providing local points of contact within the Department for the public to report possible election fraud and voting rights violations while the polls are open on election day.

            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.  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.

            The right to vote is the cornerstone of American democracy.  We all must ensure that those who are entitled to vote exercise that right if they choose, and that those who seek to corrupt the voting process are brought to justice.  In order to respond to complaints of election fraud or voting rights abuses on November 8, 2016, and to ensure that such complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities, United States Attorney Hartunian stated that AUSAs/DEOs Eurenius and Shinerock will be on duty in this District while the polls are open.  AUSA Carl Eurenius in Syracuse can be reached by the public at the following telephone number: (315) 448-0672. AUSA Solomon Shinerock in Albany can be reached by the public at the following telephone number: (518) 431-0247.

            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 Syracuse FBI field office can be reached by the public at (315) 422-0141. The Albany FBI Office can be reached by the public at (518) 465-7551.

            Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section in Washington, DC by phone at 1-800-253-3931 or (202) 307-2767, by fax at (202) 307-3961, by email to voting.section@usdoj.gov or by complaint form at http://www.justice.gov/crt/complaint/votintake/index.php.