DOJ ‘Aware Of Concerns About Voter Intimidation’ In Mississippi Runoff

FILE - In this Jan. 29, 2014 file photo, Attorney General Eric Holder testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. In an assertion of same-sex marriage rights, Holder is applying a landmark Supreme Court ruling to the Ju... FILE - In this Jan. 29, 2014 file photo, Attorney General Eric Holder testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. In an assertion of same-sex marriage rights, Holder is applying a landmark Supreme Court ruling to the Justice Department, announcing Saturday that same-sex spouses cannot be compelled to testify against each other, should be eligible to file for bankruptcy jointly and are entitled to the same rights and privileges as federal prison inmates in opposite-sex marriages. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) MORE LESS
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The Department of Justice said Monday that it is aware of concerns of voter intimidation in Tuesday’s runoff election of the race for U.S. Senate in Mississippi.

“The department is aware of concerns about voter intimidation and is monitoring the situation,” a Department of Justice spokesman told TPM in a statement. “Voters that experience problems are encouraged to call 1-800-253-3931.”

The statement on Monday afternoon comes in response to news that prominent outside groups that support Mississippi state Sen. Chris McDaniel (R) are sending poll watchers to the state to monitor the voting process on Tuesday.

“The laws in Mississippi are unusually open to poll watching from the outside,” former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, the president of the Senate Conservatives Fund, one of the outside groups supporting McDaniel, told The New York Times. “We’re going to take full advantage of that and we’re going to lay eyes on [Sen. Thad] Cochran’s effort to bring Democrats in.”

Supporters of Cochran, who McDaniel is facing off against in the runoff, have been courting Democratic voters and African-Americans in the state to vote for the incumbent senator in the runoff. The McDaniel campaign and its supporters, in response, have condemned the effort and said creates an opportunity to destroy the “integrity” of voting in the race.

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