May 11, 2007 4:26 pm US/Central
Feds To Monitor Farmers Branch Election
by Tiani Jones
FARMERS BRANCH (CBS 11 News / AP) ―
An extra set of eyes will be watching to make sure that Saturday's controversial Farmers Branch election goes smoothly.
The U.S. Justice Department plans to monitor local elections there and in three other Texas communities Saturday to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act.
In Farmers Branch, voters will decide whether to approve an ordinance that requires apartment managers to verify that renters are U.S. citizens or legal immigrants before leasing to them -- something opponents say makes the Dallas suburb appear racist.
Early voter turnout in Farmers Branch reached a historic high with more than 3500 people casting ballots. Officials expect Saturday's turnout to be near 50 percent.
Besides Farmers Branch's election, DOJ monitors will be observing elections in the Denton Independent School District, Fort Bend County and Killeen.
The locations are all among Texas' jurisdictions where minority language voter laws apply. In places where 10,000 voters or at least 5 percent of the population is non-English speaking, voter information and assistance must be available in the minority language, said Cynthia Magnuson, a DOJ spokeswoman.
"The observers are just there to make sure that everyone who comes to vote is able to do so," she said.
Observers will be dispatched to polling sites to ensure that individual voting rights are protected and will be in contact with local election officials throughout the day, Magnuson said.
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