U.S. attorney taps state election officers

PORTLAND – U.S. Attorney Paula Silsby recently appointed Assistant U.S. Attorneys James McCarthy from her Bangor office and John Gleason from her Portland office to serve as district election officers for Maine.

These appointments were made after a nationwide Department of Justice Voting Integrity Initiative announced by Attorney General John Ashcroft in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 8.

The purpose of this nationwide federal law enforcement program, which the department has implemented during national general elections since the late 1960s, is to ensure public confidence in the integrity of the election process by strengthening the department’s efforts to protect voting rights and to prosecute election crime throughout the country.

McCarthy and Gleason will serve as co-district election officers for two years, supervising the investigation and prosecution of election fraud matters in Maine and coordinating the district’s efforts with Department of Justice prosecutors in Washington, D.C.

On Election Day, both attorneys supervised a team of assistant U.S. attorneys and special agents of the FBI while the polls were open. They also were available to receive complaints of election fraud from the public.