AG Garland announces DOJ will double number of lawyers working on voting rights

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday that the Department of Justice will double the number of lawyers within its civil rights division who are dedicated to protecting the right to vote, after a number of GOP-led states passed election security bills in recent months.

He said the division would look into voting laws "in order to determine whether they discriminate against Black voters and other voters of color." He pointed to studies he said showed voters of color wait in "substantially longer" lines to vote.  Garland said the department would publish guidance that explained the civil and criminal statutes involving post-election audits, as well as for early voting and voting by mail.