Following requests from state Republican parties, the US Department of Justice is sending federal election observers to California and New Jersey next month to investigate two Democratic strongholds that hold off-year elections.
Los Angeles, Orange, Kern, Riverside, and Fresno are among the five counties in southern and central California where the Justice Department made its announcement on Friday.
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The department claims that the department’s goal is “to ensure compliance with federal law, voter security, and transparency.”
Attorney General Pamela Bondi stated in a statement to The Associated Press that “trust in the electoral process results in the highest standards of election integrity.”
The Justice Department regularly monitors elections, but the focus is on California and New Jersey as both states are scheduled to hold November 4 elections with national implications.
In the run-up to the 2026 midterm elections, California will hold a special election in New Jersey to challenge Republican gerrymandering efforts elsewhere. This has resulted in significant spending from both parties.
After President Donald Trump for years refused to accept the results of the 2020 election, the Justice Department’s efforts are also the most recent salvo in the Republican Party’s obsession with election integrity.
Democrats are concerned that the new administration will try to win over the midterm elections next year with unfounded fraud allegations.
The Justice Department received the request in a letter from Republican leaders in both states asking for their assistance days prior. The decision was criticized by some powerful state 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 described the action as “highly inappropriate.”
No amount of election interference by the California Republican Party will stop Californians from expressing their opinions, according to Rusty Hicks, the party’s chair, in a statement.
House districts in California are in danger.
Harmeet Dhillon, the justice department’s civil rights head, was requested to provide monitors to watch the election in the five counties in a letter from the California Republican Party, which was sent on Monday and obtained by The Associated Press.
We’ve heard reports of irregularities in these counties in recent elections, which we fear will hurt voter confidence in the election’s results, wrote GOP Chairwoman Corrin Rankin.
A proposed redistricting proposal would dramatically alter California’s congressional lines, adding up to five additional Democratic seats to the state’s delegation for the US House.
According to state Republican leaders, each of the counties cited has experienced recent voter fraud, including sending in duplicate or incorrect ballots. Additionally, they object to the county’s voter registration system’s maintenance in Los Angeles and Orange.
As part of a comprehensive request for detailed voter roll information, the Justice Department has sued one of at least eight states. The department has not stated its desire for the information.
Governor Gavin Newsom’s representative, Brandon Richards, claimed that the Justice Department has no authority to “interfere” with California’s election.
He noted that there are no federal races on November’s ballot, just a state-specific initiative.
According to Richards, “deploying these federal forces appears to be a form of intimidation intended to thwart the election.”
Bob Page, the county’s registrar of voters, said he welcomes anyone who wants to observe the county’s election operations and that it frequently has observers from local, state, federal, and even international ones. He characterized Orange County’s elections as “accessible, accurate, fair, secure, and transparent.”
With 5.8 million registered voters, the county’s voter records are constantly being updated and verified, according to Los Angeles County Clerk Dean Logan, who said election observers are a common practice throughout the nation.
Voters can be assured that their ballot will be counted accurately and securely, he said.
Most Californians cast their ballots using mail that has been returned via mail from drop boxes or local voting centers, which typically makes polling locations on Election Day relatively quiet.
The state with the highest population in the country has developed a reputation for tallies that can take weeks, sometimes even longer, in order to verify accuracy and count every vote.
In his Central Valley district, which was the last congressional race to be decided last year, Democrat Adam Gray won in the early months of 2024.
New Jersey’s Passaic County is the target
The request of California echoed a similar letter that New Jersey Republicans sent.
In suburban Passaic County ahead of the state’s governor’s race, they requested that the Department of Justice send election monitors to “oversee the receipt and processing of vote-by-mail ballots” and “monitor access to the Board of Elections around the clock.”
The heavily Latino-dominated county, which was once a Democratic stronghold before moving to President Donald Trump’s column in the presidential election last year, was informed by the New Jersey Republican State Committee that federal intervention was required to ensure an accurate vote count.
The county’s support for Democratic Party candidate Mikie Sherrill could hurt Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli. However, the letter cited alleged “long and sordid history” of vote-by-mail shenanigans and cited prior county voter fraud cases.
After the apparent winner and others were accused of voter fraud, a judge in Paterson, the largest city in Passaic County, ordered a new election in 2020.
According to Platkin, the state is working to ensure that elections are impartial and secure. He stated that the attorney general’s office is “considering all of our options” in light of the Justice Department’s announcement, which would “prevent any effort to intimidate or obstruct our elections.”
Election observers are not a recent development.
Local election offices and polling locations around the country already employ political party observers to ensure compliance.
In order to ensure compliance with federal civil rights laws, the Justice Department has a long history of sending observers to jurisdictions where voting rights have been violated.
Some Republican-led states declared last year that they would block federal monitors from gaining access to voting locations on Election Day while the president’s administration was still in power.
Trump has rigged mail voting for years because of his repeated false accusations that Biden’s 2020 victory was rigged. Despite numerous studies showing no evidence of widespread fraud in US elections, he claims that the country is riddled with fraud.
Trump, who has no authority under the US Constitution, pledged to outlaw vote-by-mail in the country earlier this year.
The Civil Rights Division of Dhillon, which will coordinate with the US Attorney’s Offices and collaborate closely with state and local officials, will oversee the Justice Department’s effort.
In addition, the department is looking into requesting additional monitoring requests from other jurisdictions.
Former Justice Department attorney David Becker, who has trained and served as an election monitor, claimed that department attorneys are typically required to work in polling places where there is no interfering with voting.
However, Becker, who is now the Center for Election Integrity & Research’s executive director, claimed that local governments typically consent to the monitors’ presence.
