Summary
- DOJ sending federal election observers to California, New Jersey.
- Observers to monitor polling in six counties with large Latino populations.
- California counties: Los Angeles, Orange, Kern, Riverside, Fresno involved.
On Friday, the Justice Department said it will be covering polling locales in five southern and central California counties Los Angeles, Orange, Kern, Riverside, and Fresno, and also in Passaic County, New Jersey.
“Transparency at the polls translates into faith in the electoral process, and this Department of Justice is committed to upholding the highest standards of election integrity,”
Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement to The Associated Press.
"To ensure transparency, ballot security, and compliance with federal law"
is the department's stated objective.
The Justice Department regularly monitors elections, but this time it is concentrating on California and New Jersey since on November 4 both states will conduct highly anticipated elections with national ramifications.
In the lead-up to the 2026 midterm elections, California is conducting a special election to redesign the state's congressional map in a bid to thwart Republican gerrymandering efforts elsewhere, while New Jersey has an open governor's seat that has drawn significant investment from both parties.
Following years of President Donald Trump's refusal to accept the 2020 election results, the Justice Department's attempts are also the most recent in the Republican Party's obsession with election integrity.
Democrats worry that similarly baseless claims of fraud would be used by the next administration to try to win the congressional elections next year.
Days after the Republican leaders in both states sent letters to the Justice Department asking for help, the announcement was made. The move was criticized by some of the states' top Democrats.
The Justice Department "has not even attempted to identify a legitimate basis for its actions," according to New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin, who referred to the action as "highly inappropriate."
The letter from the California Republican Party, sent on Monday and obtained by The Associated Press, asked the Justice Department’s civil rights head, Harmeet Dhillon, to provide monitors to observe the election in the five counties.
“In recent elections, we have received reports of irregularities in these counties that we fear will undermine either the willingness of voters to participate in the election or their confidence in the announced results of the election,”
wrote GOP Chairwoman Corrin Rankin.
A redistricting proposal that would drastically alter California's congressional boundaries and add up to five more Democratic members to its delegation to the US House is scheduled for a vote in the state.
According to state Republican leaders, there have been recent voting problems in each of the counties listed, including voters receiving duplicate or inaccurate votes. They also criticize the way Orange and Los Angeles counties keep their voter rolls up to date.
The Justice Department has filed lawsuits against at least eight states, including California, in an effort to obtain comprehensive voter roll data. Why the department wants the data has not been stated.
Brandon Richards, a spokesperson for Governor Gavin Newsom, said the Justice Department has no standing to “interfere” with California’s election.
He pointed out that November’s ballot contains only a state-specific initiative and has no federal races.
“Deploying these federal forces appears to be an intimidation tactic meant for one thing: suppress the vote,”
Richards said in an email.
On election day, polling stations are usually rather quiet because the majority of Californians cast their ballots by mail, which are returned via the postal service, drop boxes, or local voting centers
However, the nation's most populous state has a reputation for tallying votes in a manner that can take weeks, if not longer, in an effort to be accurate and count every vote.
The nation's last congressional election was held in 2024, and it wasn't until early December that Democrat Adam Gray was declared the victor in his Central Valley district.
In preparation for the state's governor's race, they requested that the Department of Justice send election monitors to "monitor access to the Board of Elections around the clock" and "oversee receipt and processing of vote-by-mail ballots" in suburban Passaic County.
In order to guarantee an accurate vote count in the mainly Latino county that was formerly a Democratic bastion but switched to President Donald Trump's column in last year's presidential election, the New Jersey Republican State Committee informed Dhillon that federal involvement was required.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli's chances of defeating Democrat Mikie Sherrill may depend on the county. However, the letter claimed a "long and sordid history" of vote-by-mail machinations and referenced prior voter fraud instances in the area.
In order to make sure that federal civil rights rules are being followed, the Justice Department has a lengthy history of sending observers to areas with a history of violating voting rights.
Several Republican-led states declared last year that they would not permit federal monitors to enter polling places on election day, when President Joe Biden's administration was still in power.
As part of his persistent, unfounded accusations that Biden's 2020 victory was rigged, Trump has been railing against mail voting for years. Despite the fact that multiple studies have shown no evidence of widespread fraud in US elections, he claims it is rife with fraud.
Trump promised to outlaw vote-by-mail nationwide earlier this year, but the US Constitution does not grant him the authority to do so.
According to the Justice Department, Dhillon's Civil Rights Division will be in charge of the initiative. It will coordinate the deployment of staff with US Attorney's Offices and collaborate closely with state and local authorities.
Additional requests for surveillance in other jurisdictions are also being accepted by the department.
The work is usually carried out by department lawyers who are not allowed to meddle at polling stations, according to David Becker, a former Justice Department attorney who has worked as an election monitor and trained them.
What legal authority allows the DOJ to send election observers?
The legal authority that allows the U.S. Department ofJustice (DOJ) to send election spectators primarily comes from Section 13 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Under this provision, the Attorney General can certify political services where civil spectators are assigned to cover choices to insure compliance with civil voting rights laws. These spectators help discourage discriminative practices and ensure translucency at the pates.
Also, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division uses labor force to cover polling places to assess adherence to voting rights laws, including the Help America Vote Act. Although the 2013 Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v.
Holder limited the use of some Voting Rights Act, the DOJ continues to shoot spectators and observers in cooperation with state and original officers, frequently in response to requests from countries or local parties.