FILE PHOTO (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
LOS ANGELES – Federal election monitors were deployed to four California counties Tuesday as voters headed to the polls in the midterm elections, prompting state officials to send their own observers to guard against voter intimidation and election interference.
The US Department of Justice said monitors were stationed in Los Angeles, San Diego, Alameda and Sacramento counties, part of what the agency described as its largest nationwide election-monitoring operation in history.
About 1,000 federal monitors were deployed across all 50 states to check compliance with federal voting rights laws, according to the DOJ.
“Election integrity has been one of the top priorities for this administration and this division,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement.
The deployment comes amid heightened tensions between President Donald Trump’s administration and California officials over election procedures and allegations of voter fraud.
The DOJ has sought to prevent California from counting ballots associated with approximately 20,000 people it suspects may be noncitizens. California officials have challenged the reliability of the federal government’s list, arguing that eligible voters could be disenfranchised.
A federal judge, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals and the US Supreme Court rejected the administration’s emergency efforts to set aside the disputed ballots. The Supreme Court issued its decision Monday, a day before Election Day.
California deploys its own observers
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the state had deployed its own election observers in coordination with the Secretary of State’s Office to ensure voting proceeded without intimidation or interference.
Bonta said the state had taken similar steps during the previous two elections when federal monitors were deployed.
Gov. Gavin Newsom also warned that anyone interfering with voters or tampering with ballots could face felony prosecution under California law.
State officials have issued additional guidance to election workers and law enforcement agencies on preventing voter intimidation, protecting election materials and responding to attempts to interfere with polling locations.
The DOJ said its monitors would check compliance with federal voting rights protections, including laws prohibiting voter intimidation and discrimination and ensuring accessibility for voters with disabilities.
The department urged residents to report possible violations through its election hotline at 800-253-3931, by email at VEM@usdoj.gov or through its online complaint portal.
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