(d) Focus on areas vulnerable to election fraud Election crime is most apt to occur in jurisdictions where there is substantial conflict among political factions, where voters are fairly equally distributed among factions, where local officials wield substantial power, and where there is a high degree of voter apathy. Jurisdictions meeting these criteria should be identified, and complaints coming from them given special attention in allocating investigative resources. (e) Develop your investigative strategy early The typical election fraud scheme involves many levels of participants performing a variety of tasks on behalf of political operatives. For example, vote-buying schemes usually have “haulers” who take voters to the polls and pay them; “lieutenants,” “bankers,” or “politiqueras,” who obtain and distribute the money to the haulers; “captains” who coordinate the activities of the haulers; and “checkers” who accompany the voters into the voting booth to assure that they vote “correctly.” See United States v. Adams, 722 F.3d 788, 798–99 (6th Cir. 2013). It is important to attempt at an early stage to identify as many of the participants in the scheme as possible and to assess their relative culpability. It is also helpful to identify the likely motive behind the scheme. An investigative strategy can then be developed which targets low-level participants for the purpose of encouraging them to be witnesses against more highly placed participants in the election scheme. These less culpable participants might also provide evidence and leads regarding the illegal activity or scheme motivating the election fraud. 91