MILWAUKEE -- The U.S. Department of Justice plans to monitor the recall elections in Wisconsin on Tuesday, and will dispatch a team of federal observers to the city of Milwaukee.
The observers will be ensuring that the city complies with the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in the electoral process on the basis of race, color or membership in a minority language group.
There are six recall elections taking place on June 5 for governor, lieutenant governor and four state senators.
Wisconsin's Department of Justice is also sending a team of assistant attorneys general and special agents from the Division of Criminal Investigation to 12 cities in an effort to prevent voter fraud.
“The June recall election is a significant event in our state's history,” state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen (R) told the Appleton Post Crescent. “The people of Wisconsin need to have confidence that their rights are being protected and the laws are being followed."
The Appleton Post Crescent notes that voter fraud is "practically non-existent" in Wisconsin. In 2008, for example, the state conducted an investigation into complaints of voter fraud. Just 20 people were charged out of almost 3 million votes cast in the election.
The Wisconsin state election board is predicting near-presidential levels of turnout on Tuesday. Between 60 and 65 percent of voters are expected to cast a ballot, which would put turnout higher than in the 2010 elections but lower than in 2008.