doj letter re allegheny co with exhibits

7/31/2019 DOJ Letter Re Allegheny Co With Exhibits

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November 5, 2012

The Honorable Thomas E. PerezAssistant Attorney GeneralCivil Rights Division

U.S. Department of JusticeCivil Rights Division950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.Washington, D.C. 20530

Dear Assistant Attorney General Perez:

The undersigned civil rights and community organizations write to raise concerns about thelikely targeting of African-American voters by the Republican Party and groups and individualsacting in concert with it in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Allegheny County is one of 51

jurisdictions that will be monitored by the Civil Rights Division of Department of Justice on

Election Day 2012 as part of the Departments efforts to enforce the Voting Rights Act, toprevent discrimination, and to the protect the rights of voters of color.

We have received information that strongly suggests the Republican Party, under the guise of combating alleged voter fraud, has assigned Election Day poll watchers disproportionately tomajority African-American precincts in Allegheny County. We are in receipt of a partial list of targeted precincts that was distributed at a poll watcher training conducted by the Pittsburgh TeaParty Movement. The Pittsburgh Tea Party Movement conducted this training, on behalf of theRepublican Party, as part of its program to combat alleged voter fraud in Allegheny County. Weunderstand the Republican Party has targeted approximately 111, out of a total 1,319 precincts,in that county. The partial list, which is attached hereto as Exhibit A, includes 59 of the total 111precincts targeted by the Republican Party. We are unaware of any history of voter fraud at anyof these 59 locations. We are concerned that these locations are being targeted forimpermissible, racially-motivated reasons.

A comparison of the 59 Republican Party targeted precincts to the other precincts in AlleghenyCounty reveals that the targeted precincts disproportionately contain African-American voters.Specifically, the targeted precincts are over 79% African-American. By contrast, the non-targeted precincts contain, on average, less than 11% African-American registered voters.Moreover, although the targeted precincts include only 3% of the total number of voters inAllegheny County, they contain 18.5% of the registered African American voters. The vastmajority of these precincts are among those with the mostly highly concentrated African-American populations in the County. A statistical analysis of the 59 Republican Party targetedprecincts is attached hereto as Exhibit B.

On the basis of the above, the undersigned organizations are extremely concerned that the racialcomposition of the targeted precincts districts suggests that race may have been a factor in thedecision of the Republican Party to target these 59 precincts in its voter fraud preventionprogram with the purpose or potential significant effect of deterring qualified African-Americanvoters in Allegheny County from casting their ballots and thereby suppressing the minority vote.


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We call upon the Justice Department monitors to make every effort to ensure that voters at thesetargeted locations are able to cast their ballots freely and fairly on Election Day and to inquire of the Republican Party and the Pittsburgh Tea Party Movement as to the source of its list and thebasis of the targeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Advancement Project1220 L Street, NW, Suite 850Washington, DC 20005

Common Cause1133 19th St NWWashington DC 20036

Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law1401 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 400Washington, D.C. 20005

Service Employees International Union1800 Massachusetts Ave, NWWashington, DC 20036

American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania313 Atwood StreetPittsburgh, PA 15213

One Pittsburgh841 California AvePittsburgh, PA 15212

Pittsburgh A. Philip Randolph Institute60 Blvd of the Allies, Room 208Pittsburgh, Pa 15222

Pittsburgh United841 California AvePittsburgh PA 15212


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CC:

David HicktonU.S. AttorneyWestern District of Pennsylvania

700 Grant Street, Suite 4000Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Chris HerrenChief, Voting SectionU.S. Department of JusticeCivil Rights Division950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.Washington, D.C. 20530

Meredith Bell-Platts

Deputy Chief, Voting SectionU.S. Department of JusticeCivil Rights Division950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.Washington, D.C. 20530

Spencer Ross FisherUnited States Department of JusticeCivil Rights Division, Voting Section950 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.Washington, DC 20530

David KnightUnited States Department of JusticeCivil Rights Division, Disability Rights950 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.Washington, DC 20530

For additional information contact:

Nicole G. BernerSEIU, Associate General Counsel202-730-7383


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Exhibit A

Partial list of precincts targeted by the Republican Party Election Day poll watchingefforts inside polling places in Allegheny County, PA:

McKees Rocks 01 01McKees Rocks 01 02Penn Hills 01 01Penn Hills 01 02Penn Hills 01 03Penn Hills 01 04Penn Hills 01 05Penn Hills 02 02Penn Hills 09 05Pittsburgh 03 01Pittsburgh 03 03

Pittsburgh 03 05Pittsburgh 04 06Pittsburgh 04 18Pittsburgh 05 04Pittsburgh 05 05Pittsburgh 05 07Pittsburgh 05 08Pittsburgh 05 11Pittsburgh 05 13Pittsburgh 05 15Pittsburgh 05 16

Pittsburgh 08 12Pittsburgh 12 01Pittsburgh 12 03Pittsburgh 12 04Pittsburgh 12 05Pittsburgh 12 06Pittsburgh 12 07Pittsburgh 12 08Pittsburgh 12 09Pittsburgh 12 10Pittsburgh 12 14

Pittsburgh 12 15Pittsburgh 12 16Pittsburgh 13 02Pittsburgh 13 09Pittsburgh 13 13Pittsburgh 13 14Pittsburgh 13 16Pittsburgh 13 17


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Pittsburgh 13 18Pittsburgh 13 19Pittsburgh 14 10Pittsburgh 14 16Pittsburgh 25 02

Pittsburgh 25 03Pittsburgh 25 05Pittsburgh 25 06Pittsburgh 26 05Pittsburgh 26 06Swissvale 00 02Swissvale 00 03Swissvale 00 06Swissvale 00 10Wilkinsburg 01 01Wilkinsburg 01 02

Wilkinsburg 01 03Wilkinsburg 01 04


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Exhibit B

Total RegisteredVoters

African AmericanRegistered voters

Percentage AfricanAmerican

All of Alleghany County(1319 Precincts )

879,340 111,579 12.7%

Targeted 59 Precincts 25,971 20,676 79.6%Remaining 1260Precincts

853,369 90,903 10.6%

Percentage of voterscontained in the 59targeted precincts

2.95% 18.5%

Average % of African American Voters in

the targeted Allegheny County Precincts 79.6%Average % of African Americans for allAllegheny County (excluding targeted) 10.6%

Targeted Precinct % of African American Voters in the Targeted Precincts

Pittsburgh 12 08 99.0%Pittsburgh 13 13 98.7%Pittsburgh 12 09 98.4%Pittsburgh 12 07 98.0%Pittsburgh 13 02 97.7%Pittsburgh 13 19 97.4%Pittsburgh 05 04 97.4%Pittsburgh 05 05 97.3%

0.00%

20.00%

40.00%

60.00%

80.00%

Average % of AfricanAmerican Voters in the

targeted Allegheny CountyPrecincts

Average % of AfricanAmericans for all AlleghenyCounty (excluding targeted)

Allegheny County Precincts


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Pittsburgh 05 15 97.2%Pittsburgh 13 09 97.1%Penn Hills 01 05 97.0%Pittsburgh 12 14 96.9%Pittsburgh 05 16 96.6%

Pittsburgh 13 14 96.5%Pittsburgh 12 15 96.2%Wilkinsburg 01 03 96.0%Pittsburgh 12 16 95.5%Wilkinsburg 01 02 95.5%Pittsburgh 12 06 95.3%Pittsburgh 03 03 95.1%Pittsburgh 12 10 95.0%Pittsburgh 03 01 94.9%Pittsburgh 13 17 94.9%Pittsburgh 05 11 94.5%

Pittsburgh 05 13 94.2%Pittsburgh 12 04 93.8%Pittsburgh 13 18 93.6%Pittsburgh 12 03 93.5%Pittsburgh 13 16 92.5%Penn Hills 01 04 91.9%Pittsburgh 26 05 91.8%Pittsburgh 05 07 91.5%Penn Hills 01 03 90.9%Pittsburgh 26 06 90.5%Pittsburgh 05 08 90.4%Wilkinsburg 01 01 90.3%Pittsburgh 12 05 90.2%Pittsburgh 03 05 88.8%Pittsburgh 12 01 88.7%Penn Hills 01 02 88.5%Penn Hills 01 01 88.4%Penn Hills 09 05 82.5%Penn Hills 02 02 81.0%Pittsburgh 25 02 78.9%Pittsburgh 25 06 77.9%Pittsburgh 25 03 72.7%McKees Rocks 01 01 72.7%Pittsburgh 04 18 71.4%Swissvale 00 10 66.4%Wilkinsburg 01 04 65.4%Pittsburgh 25 05 64.7%Swissvale 00 02 52.0%Swissvale 00 06 50.6%Pittsburgh 08 12 45.9%


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Pittsburgh 04 06 43.4%Swissvale 00 03 39.5%McKees Rocks 01 02 26.2%Pittsburgh 14 10 2.5%Pittsburgh 14 16 2.3%

doj letter re allegheny co with exhibits

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