President Trump’s Justice Department is sending election monitors into Maine as questions grow over what has been happening inside Lewiston City Hall.
The federal personnel will be present in Portland and Lewiston for the November 3 election. Maine officials say the monitors may observe and take notes, but they cannot interact with voters, touch ballots or equipment, or disrupt voting.
The deployment lands after a series of videos showed Somali voters being dropped off for early voting and then accompanied by interpreters. Reporters and witnesses have alleged that some of those interpreters crossed the line from lawful language assistance into directing votes.
The federal-monitor announcement immediately put a national spotlight on the two Maine cities:
The Maine Morning Star reported that the state’s Secretary of State’s office confirmed the Justice Department deployment. Letters to the Portland and Lewiston clerks say the monitors are there to watch for compliance with federal voting-rights laws, including ballot access for voters with disabilities.
The letters say the federal personnel will wear business-casual clothing without DOJ identifiers. They may observe and take notes, but they may not talk with voters inside polling places, carry firearms, handle ballots or equipment, or interfere with voting.
Federal election monitoring is expanding sharply ahead of the midterms. Portland and Lewiston are Maine’s two largest cities, and the deployment comes amid a broader push by the Trump administration to scrutinize voter rolls and possible noncitizen voting.
The videos from Lewiston are the reason this story has exploded.
A current video compilation shows the central allegation: Somali-language interpreters approaching voters, entering the voting area with them and allegedly directing ballot choices even when assistance had not been requested:
The video shows drop-offs and voter assistance. The more serious claims — that interpreters told voters which candidates to select or acted as part of a coordinated NGO operation — remain allegations and should be investigated with the underlying security footage, witness accounts and election records.
Language assistance itself is legal. A voter who needs help reading or understanding a ballot may choose an aide.
The line is also clear: an aide can translate the ballot, but cannot choose for the voter, steer the voter toward a party or candidate, or approach people who never asked for assistance.
That distinction became harder to ignore after Lewiston officials addressed one of the incidents.
The Maine Wire said the city clerk confirmed that an interpreter was asked to leave the voting area over alleged electioneering:
RobinsonReport.com later added an important clarification: the clerk said a warden — not the clerk personally — told one interpreter to leave the voting area after the interpreter approached a newly arrived voter who had not requested help. The departure was described as non-contentious.
The clerk also began distributing written rules for voter aides. Under those rules, the voter must request the aide.
If the ballot is read aloud, the entire ballot must be read. The aide may not tell the voter how to vote, and the voter must mark and return the ballot unless physically unable to do so.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said on October 23 that her office had not received a credible report that an interpreter engaged in illegal electioneering. She also said federal monitors will be held to the same limits as any other observer.
That statement does not erase the videos or settle the allegations. It means the claims have not yet been established by the state’s top election office.
The Justice Department says its Civil Rights Division deploys federal personnel to assess whether polling places comply with federal voting-rights laws. Division attorneys and staff can monitor in the field, maintain contact with state and local officials, and document what they witness.
DOJ’s published guidance says federal observers write reports on polling-place activity and submit them to the Civil Rights Division. The department can also assign its own lawyers and staff to jurisdictions where court-appointed federal observers are not otherwise available.
The mission covers access to the ballot, discrimination, interference and other possible violations of federal voting law. The monitors observe procedures and preserve facts; they do not replace local election workers or take control of ballot handling.
Maine’s clerks remain responsible for administering the election. Independent federal eyes inside the polling places can preserve evidence and make it harder for either side to dismiss legitimate concerns without answers.
The standard should not be controversial.
Every eligible citizen gets one lawful vote, and every voter who needs language assistance receives it.
No interpreter, activist, party operative or NGO gets to fill in the voter’s choices.
If the videos captured lawful assistance, the facts should clear that up quickly. If anyone was directing ballots or organizing improper influence inside City Hall, the public deserves to know who authorized it, how often it happened and whether any votes were affected.
Now the DOJ will have personnel on the ground in both Portland and Lewiston.
The cameras started the questions. The monitors should help produce answers.
This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.
The post WATCH: DOJ Sends Monitors Into Maine Amid Videos Allegedly Showing Somali Translators Guiding Ballots and NGOs Dropping Off Voters appeared first on 100PercentFedUp.com.
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[H/T 100PercentFedUp]
