A day before the midterm election, United States Attorney Scott Brady announced the appointment of a district election officer to lead the efforts in protect voting rights in the Western District of Pennsylvania as part of the state’s Election Day program.

Brady announced Monday the appointment of Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Olshan as the district election officer for the Western District of Pennsylvania, in a news release from the Department of Justice.

As district election officer, Olshan is charged with overseeing the handling of complaints of election fraud and voting rights abuses within the 25 counties that makes up the Western District during the course of voting on Nov. 6.

Complaints that could be reported to Olshan include:

intimidation or bribing of voters;

the buying or selling of votes;

impersonation of voters;

altering vote tallies;

stuffing of ballot boxes; and

marking ballots for voters against their wishes.

According to the Department of Justice, the Election Day program was developed to deter election fraud and discrimination at the polls by providing local points of contact within the Justice Department, like Olshan, for residents to report fraud and abuses. The DOJ states the program was put into place to “help ensure the public’s confidence in the integrity of the election process.”

To respond to complaints and ensure grievances are directed to the appropriate authorities, Olshan will be on duty while the polls are open and can be reached by the public at 412-894-7446.

Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section in Washington by phone at 800-253-3931 or 202-307-2767, by fax at 202-307-3961, by email to voting.section@usdoj.gov or by using the complaint form found at http://www.justice.gov/crt/complaint/votintake/index.php.