WASHINGTON—The Justice Department today announced that on June 24, 2008, it will monitor the special primary election in Wilkinson County, Miss., to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act. The election will include special primary contests for county offices. Under the Voting Rights Act, the Justice Department is authorized to ask the Office of Personnel Management to send federal observers to areas that are specially covered by the Act or by a federal court order. Federal observers will be assigned to monitor polling place activities in Wilkinson County, Miss., based on the special coverage provisions. The observers will watch and record activities during voting hours at polling locations in this jurisdiction. Civil Rights Division attorneys will coordinate the federal activities and maintain contact with local election officials. Each year, the Justice Department deploys hundreds of federal observers from the Office of Personnel Management, as well as departmental staff, to mo...