The Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office appointed a pair of election officers to oversee the U.S. Justice Department’s Election Day program on Nov. 5.

Assistant U.S. attorneys Bijon A. Mostoufi and Joseph Wenner will oversee complaints involving voting rights, threats of violence to election officials or staff, and election fraud, according to a release from the attorney’s office Monday.

The Election Day program “seeks to ensure public confidence in the electoral process by providing local points of contact within the [U.S. Department of Justice] for the public to report possible federal election law violations,” according to the release.

Threatening violence against election officials or staff, intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes, and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input are illegal under federal law.

The Voting Rights Act also protects the right of voters to mark their own ballot or to be assisted by a person of their choice due to language barriers or disabilities, according to the release.

“My Office is committed to protecting that right and to pursue and prosecute those who discourage or interfere with the exercise of [voting],” U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek Barron said. “[Assistant U.S. Attorneys] Mostoufi and Wenner will be on duty in Maryland while the polls are open.”

Mostoufi and Wenner can be reached at 301-344-4433, and any allegation of election fraud or voting rights violations will be reviewed in consultation with state and federal authorities, Barron said.

“We will pursue any case that warrants prosecution,” Barron said.

Marylanders can also report allegations of election fraud and other election abuses on Election Day to the local FBI field office at 410-265-8080. Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C., by phone at 800-253-3931 or online at civilrights.justice.gov.

Contact Dillon Mullan at dmullan@baltsun.com, 302-842-3818 or @DillonMullan on X.