Civil Rights Group Claims Arab-Americans Prevented from Early Voting

A civil rights group is demanding an investigation of what it calls “credible complaints” of voter discrimination against Arab-Americans who claimed they were prevented by Dearborn Heights elections officials from casting early votes in the upcoming Aug. 5 primary before leaving on planned overseas vacations.

In some cases, Dearborn Heights residents were told they would be “mailed” absentee ballot applications despite the fact that the residents informed city officials that “mailed” applications would be useless while they were overseas,” Fatina Abdrabboh, an attorney and director of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee’s Michigan Office (ADC-Michigan), said in a news release.

The civil rights group has demanded that Dearborn Heights election officials explain their actions, including “why many Arab-Americans were deprived of their right to vote via absentee ballots and why many other applications had not been processed,” Abdrabboh said.

The allegations caused Dearborn Heights City Clerk Walter J. Prusiewicz, who resigned from his position Tuesday, to reconsider, and he now says he will complete his term, the Press & Guide reports.

“I’m doing this to maintain the good name of Dearborn Heights and myself,” said Prusiewicz, who planned to resign before the voter suppression allegations.

He said he has conducted more than a dozen elections since taking office and “they’ve all been unblemished.”

"I'm doing this to maintain the good name of Dearborn Heights and myself," he said.

"The integrity of elections is important to me," he said. "I've conducted at least 13 elections since I took office and they've all been unblemished."

Abdrabboh said ADC-Michigan is seeking the help of the FBI and the state and federal attorneys general offices to investigate the complaints. If the allegations aren’t thoroughly investigated, the civil rights group will seek a remedy in federal court to uphold the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Abdrabboh said.

Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act prohibits minority vote dilution or any tactics, circumstances, or rules that impede or weaken the ability of minorities to vote and gain fair representation. Section 5 of the VRA enables Arab-Americans and other minorities to challenge discriminatory voting practices.

“The fact that voter intimidation and voter bias exists 50 years after the Voting Rights Act was passed is shocking” Abdrabboh said. “Voting is a cornerstone of democracy and Arab-Americans will not stand by and allow this fundamental right to be violated by any city government anywhere.”