UVA Law alum appointed to oversee DOJ Election Day program in Western District

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Kavanaugh has been appointed to serve as the District Election Officer for the Western District of Virginia.

The role has Kavanaugh, a 2006 University of Virginia School of Law alum, responsible for overseeing the Western District’s handling of complaints of election fraud and voting rights concerns in consultation with Justice Department Headquarters in Washington.

“It is vitally important that our citizens are able to vote without interference or discrimination.  They must be confident that every vote is counted without compromise,” Acting United States Attorney Daniel P. Bubar said. “The Department of Justice will do all it can to protect the integrity of the election process.”

The DOJ 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 through 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.

Kavanaugh will be on duty in the Western District of Virginia while polls are open.

He can be reached by the public at: 434-293-3981.

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 804-627-1044.

Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C., by phone at 800-253-3931 or by complaint form at civilrights.justice.gov.