By Alabama Public Radio
Washington, DC – Polling places in Hale County will be under federal observation today. The U-S Justice Department says it wants to make sure the county is complying with the Voting Rights Act. Monitors will be making sure no one in Hale County is denied a vote based on the person's race or ethnicity. The county is one of 18 counties in five states the Justice Department will monitor today, and the observations are not out of the ordinary. The Justice Department sends hundreds of observers to monitor nationwide elections every year.