DOJ Sends Monitors to Maine Amid Voting Law Concerns
Federal monitors deployed to Maine after reports of translators allegedly influencing voters during elections.
3 min read
Following reports of potential voting law violations, the Department of Justice has announced it is sending election monitors to polling places in Portland and Lewiston for the midterm elections, the Maine Secretary of State’s office confirmed after the videos dropped.
Somali translators are at the polling stations in Maine and they are allegedly directing people on how to vote
Maine Wire reporter Jon Fetherston said he spent multiple days documenting the activity and personally observed it more than 100 times.
🚨 UPDATE: Trump DOJ and Harmeet Dhillon are going to send federal ELECTION MONITORS to the polls in Portland and Lewiston, MAINE, for the midterms — home to a CRUCIAL US Senate election that could decide the chamber
“I have spent the last three days in Lewiston documenting this. It has happened over a 100 times. I personally have over heard interpreters telling them to ‘vote Democrat,'” Fetherson wrote. “Seen them handling the ballots, even saw one interpreter fold the ballot and place into the envelope. All against the rules.”
I have spent the last three days in Lewsiton documenting this. It has happened over a 100 times. I personally have over heard interpreters telling them to “vote Democrat.” Seen them handling the ballots, even saw one interpreter fold the ballot and place into the envelope. All against the rules.
City Councilor Bret Martel, a Republican candidate, separately described watching translators assist voters in complete silence and noted cases of multiple people in booths. Maine law requires that a voter request an aide or translator.
LEWISTON: NGOs drop elderly Somalis off at town hall
The aide must read the entire ballot out loud, cannot influence the choice, and cannot approach or interrupt a voter who has not asked for help. The voter must mark the ballot and place it in the envelope unless physically unable to do so.
Here’s the full story on the Somali translator who was asked to leave the voting area for electioneering, as confirmed by the Lewiston clerk: https://t.co/s4mLWue4cV
The Lewiston city clerk later confirmed that a warden asked one translator to leave the immediate voting area after the person approached a newly arrived voter who had not requested assistance. After the incidents, the clerk began handing out printed rules for aides.
🚨🚨WOW: Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline reacts to the documented cases of electioneering by Somali translators by issuing notices limiting photography and video recording…
Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline responded by issuing notices limiting photography and video recording within 15 feet of a voter anywhere on City Hall’s first floor, except for voter selfies. Sheline directed people to report voter harassment to the clerk. The Maine Wire described the move as a reaction to its documentation of the translators rather than an address of the underlying conduct.
The Maine Secretary of State’s office has said it is monitoring complaints of intrusive filming, photography, and harassment at the site. The Maine Wire has filed a Freedom of Access Act request for security footage of the early voting process.
Source: The Gateway Pundit
