317 federal observers sent to 9 states to monitor elections

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The federal government is sending 317 observers to nine states to ensure voting rights of minority groups protected in Tuesday's general elections.

The Justice Department announced that under the Voting Rights Act it has dispatched observers to monitor balloting in parts of Alabama, Arizona, California, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York and Utah.

Federal observers will be sent to :

--Apache and Navajo counties, Arizona; Neshoba and Newton counties in Mississippi; Bernalillo, Cibola, McKinley, Sandoval, and Socorro counties in New Mexico; and San Juan County, Utah, to monitor the treatment of Native American voters.

--Hale and Lowndes counties in Alabama, and Grenada County, Mississippi to monitor the treatment of African American voters.

--Alameda County, California and Kings (Brooklyn) and New York (Manhattan) counties in New York to monitor the treatment of Chinese American voters.

--Wayne County (Hamtramck), Michigan to monitor the treatment of Arab American voters.

--Passaic County, New Jersey to monitor the treatment of Hispanic voters.

The 317 observers requested by the Justice Department's civil rights division are supplied by the Office of Personnel Management. The observers are instructed to watch and record activities during voting hours. Meanwhile, 45 Justice Department personnel coordinate the activities and maintain contact with local election officials.

One Justice Department attorney has been sent to Flint, Michigan, and another to Fort Worth, Texas, to respond to unspecified election-related concerns.

The government announcement said voters with complaints about discriminatory voting practices in this election may call 1-888-496-9455.