U.S. Attorney Announces Appointment of District Election Officer

WASHINGTON - United States Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeffrey A. Taylor announced today the appointment of Assistant U.S. Attorney Howard Sklamberg to serve as the District Election Officer for the District of Columbia. Mr. Sklamberg, who is a Deputy Chief of the Fraud and Public Corruption Section, will lead the efforts of the Office in the connection with the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program for the upcoming November 4, 2008 general elections. In that capacity, Mr. Sklamberg will be responsible for overseeing the District’s handling of complaints of election fraud and voting rights abuses in consultation with Justice Department Headquarters.

The Attorney General has established a Department-wide Ballot Access and Voting Integrity Initiative. The goals of this Initiative are to increase the Department’s ability to deter election fraud and discrimination at the polls and to prosecute these offenses whenever and wherever they occur - to make voting easier and cheating harder. Both goals are equally important. It is imperative that in pursuing voter integrity, ballot access is not in any way diminished or harmed. The Department’s long-standing Election Day Program furthers the goals of the Initiative.

The Program also is intended to ensure public confidence in the integrity of the election process by providing local points of contact within the Department where the public can report possible election fraud and voting rights violations while the polls are open on election day. The franchise is the cornerstone of American democracy. We all must ensure that those who are entitled to the franchise exercise it, while those who seek to corrupt it are brought to justice.

In order to respond to complaints of election fraud or voting rights abuses on November 4, 2008, and to ensure that such complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sklamberg will be on duty in this District while the polls are open. He can be reached by the public at 202-514-6961.

The FBI will also have Special Agents available in each field office and resident agency in this District to receive allegations of election fraud and other election abuses. The FBI can be reached by the public at (202) 278-2000.

Complaints about ballot access problems or discrimination can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section in Washington, D.C. at 1-800-253-3931 or 202-307-2767.

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