Federal election monitors sent to LA as part of nationwide deployment

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Federal election monitors will be on the ground in the Los Angeles area today as voters head to the polls -- part of what the U.S. Department of Justice is calling its largest-ever nationwide effort to ensure ``election integrity'' -- prompting the state to launch its own platoon
of observers.

According to the DOJ, the agency deployed about 1,000 monitors to all 50 states, the widest dispersion of monitors and observers in its history.

``Election integrity has been one of the top priorities for this administration and this division,'' Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice said in a statement. ``I am very proud we are deploying the largest monitoring effort in DOJ history, and pursuing transparency for elections in an assertive and nondiscriminatory manner.''

According to the DOJ, the monitors ``will be checking for compliance with the federal voting rights statutes that fall within the jurisdiction of the (Civil Rights) Division.''

In California, monitors were deployed to the Los Angeles, San Diego, Alameda and Sacramento areas, according to the DOJ.

The agency said the deployment is part of its mission ``ensuring election integrity, supporting free and fair elections, and protecting the right to vote for U.S. citizens across the United States.''

The DOJ in recent weeks has been fighting a losing battle in court in an effort to prevent California election officials from tallying votes cast by 20,000 people it has identified as potential non-citizens. State election officials have resisted the move, calling it an attempt to interfere with an ongoing election and suppress voters.

A federal judge in Los Angeles, a federal appeals court and the U.S. Supreme Court have all rejected requests by the Trump administration over the past week for a restraining order that would have barred the state from tallying the questioned ballots. President Donald Trump has long asserted, without evidence, that there is widespread voter fraud in California, saying last month he believed there were likely ``millions'' of illegal voters in the state.

State and local officials have dismissed those claims, saying that while there are likely some individual instances of illegal voting, there is no evidence of any widespread fraud influencing the outcome of elections.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday posted a video on X warning against any effort to interfere with Tuesday's election.

``Let me be clear to anyone thinking about helping Trump interfere with California elections: If you interfere with voters or tamper with ballots, you will be prosecuted with a felony,'' he wrote. ``And don't count on a pardon from the president. He can't pardon you out of California justice.''

Responding to a Tuesday morning social media post by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement threatening to arrest anyone caught voting illegally, Newsom issued his own warning directed at ICE, writing, ``If YOU show up to the polls illegally, we will find you. We will track you down, arrest you and
prosecute you. There will be no escape.''

State Attorney General Rob Bonta said California will have its own election observers in the field Tuesday to ensure there are no efforts to intimidate voters or interfere in the ballot count.

``During the last two elections, when the federal government deployed election monitors, we responded by sending our own election observers -- to ensure that voters felt safe, that the law was followed, and that no one was discouraged from casting a ballot,'' Bonta wrote on X Tuesday. ``We once again have election observers on the ground today, in partnership with (the California Secretary of State's Office).''

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued a statement blasting the deployment of federal monitors to the area, calling it an attempt ``to intimidate voters into staying home.''

``It is also a desperate effort to make Americans doubt our free and fair elections, despite no credible evidence of widespread illegal voting,'' she said. ``The Department of Justice is laying the groundwork to dispute the results if they don't get the outcome they want.''

Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan was more accepting of the federal oversight, saying ``we welcome that opportunity.''

``Our process is always open to observation, and we recognize that transparency in elections administration is critically important,'' Logan said at an afternoon news conference. ``So their presence is nothing new for us. Federal election monitoring and observation have been part of the elections process for decades, and in Los Angeles County, we again welcome that.

``We just do ask that they follow their guidelines and that they not interfere in the ability for voters to access voting locations or to cast their ballots.''

The U.S. DOJ urged any residents who have questions or complaints or information about possible election irregularities to contact its hotline at 800-253-3931, email VEM@usdoj.gov or submit a complaint at www.civilrights.justice.gov/report.