DENVER—United States Attorney John Walsh announced that Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas O’Rourke will lead the efforts of the office as District Election Officer in connection with the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program for tomorrow’s pending election. Assistant U.S. Attorney O’Rourke will be responsible for overseeing the District of Colorado’s handling of complaints of election fraud and voting rights abuses in consultation with Justice Department Headquarters in Washington. Mr. O’Rourke has held this position for well over 15 years.

United States Attorney Walsh said, “Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination and to have that vote counted without it being stolen because of fraud. The Department of Justice will act promptly and aggressively to protect the integrity of the election process.”

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 of Justice for the public to report possible election fraud and voting rights violations while ballots are being accepted on election day.

In order to respond to complaints of election fraud or voting rights abuses on November 4, 2014, and to ensure that such complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities, United States Attorney Walsh stated that Assistant U.S. Attorney O’Rourke will be on duty in Colorado while the polls are open. He can be reached by members of the public by calling 303-454-0209.

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 Denver FBI field office can be reached by calling 303-629-7171.

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