DOJ Curbs State Election Safeguards
A voter casts their ballot at a polling station.
Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg
The Justice Department is curtailing election-year coordination aimed at protecting state-run voting processes. Some state officials and former DOJ election-crime lawyers say that will increase risks that the administration will interfere in the midterms or unwittingly expose precincts to threats, Ben Penn reports.
DOJ leaders have eliminated a centralized command post, discontinued mandatory election-law training for prosecutors, and restricted access to threat briefings for state officials, said people briefed on the situation.
The disbanded rapid-response operation at FBI headquarters is a particular concern to law enforcement veterans. This structure supported prosecutors, agents, and police ...