Feds Monitor Election in Illinois

(CN) – The Justice Department said it will monitor today’s election in Kane County, Ill., west of Chicago, to ensure compliance with voting rights.     Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Justice Department is authorized to ask the Office of Personal Management to send federal observers to areas that are specially covered by the Act or by federal court order.     Observers will monitor polling activities during polling hours in Kane County pursuant to a 2007 federal court order. Civil Rights Division attorneys will act as coordinators.      In year, 1,060 federal observers and 344 Department personnel were sent to monitor 114 elections in 75 jurisdictions in 24 states.