司法部长梅里克·加兰在周五的一次演讲中说，司法部将“审查寻求限制选民准入的新法律”。

加兰说:“如果我们看到违反联邦法律的行为，我们会毫不犹豫地采取行动。”他称投票为“民主的核心支柱”

汤姆·布伦纳-普尔/盖蒂影像公司

美国司法部长梅里克·加兰在美国司法部发表关于投票权的讲话

司法部长宣布，DOJ也在研究现行法律，“以确定它们是否歧视黑人选民和其他有色人种选民。”

他说:“在这方面特别令人担忧的是，几项研究表明，在一些司法管辖区，非白人选民必须比白人选民排队等候投票的时间长得多。”。

他还表示，DOJ将加强其民权部门，增加律师和工作人员，负责“保护投票权”

汤姆·布伦纳/普尔/法新社通过盖蒂图像

美国司法部长梅里克·加兰在司法部发表关于投票权的讲话

加兰还讨论了2020年后的各种选举审计，其中之一发生在亚利桑那州。

“支持这些选举后审计和投票限制的许多理由，”司法部长说，“都依赖于2020年选举中重大投票欺诈的说法，这些说法已经被本届政府和上届政府的执法和情报机构以及每一个考虑过它们的法院——联邦和州——所驳斥。”

此外，加兰支持那些仅仅因为工作而受到威胁的选举官员，包括佐治亚州国务卿布拉德·拉夫斯伯格。

加兰说:“这种威胁破坏了我们的选举过程，违反了无数的联邦法律。”他补充说，国务院将调查这种威胁。

Merrick Garland says DOJ 'will not hesitate to act' on potential civil rights violations of new voting laws

Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a speech on Friday that the Department of Justice will be "scrutinizing new laws that seek to curb voter access."

"Where we see violations of federal law, we will not hesitate to act," said Garland, calling voting the "central pillar of democracy."

The attorney general announced that the DOJ is looking at current laws as well "in order to determine whether they discriminate against Black voters and other voters of color."

"Particularly concerning in this regard are several studies showing that, in some jurisdictions, non-white voters must wait in line substantially longer than white voters to cast their ballots," he said.

He also said the DOJ will beef up its civil rights division, adding lawyers and staffers tasked with "protecting the right to vote."

Garland also discussed some of the various post-2020 election audits, one of which occurred in Arizona.

"Many of the justifications proffered in support of these post-election audits and restrictions on voting," the attorney general said, "have relied on assertions of material vote fraud in the 2020 election that have been refuted by the law enforcement and intelligence agencies of both this administration and the previous one, as well as by every court -- federal and state -- that has considered them."

Additionally, Garland stood up for election officials who've been threatened simply for doing their jobs, including Georgia Secretary of State Brad Ruffsberger.

"Such threats undermine our electoral process and violate a myriad of federal laws," Garland said, adding that the department will look into such threats.