The Department of Justice is sending about 1,000 election monitors and observers out in the field today, including in four California areas: Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego and Alameda County, according to a DOJ news release. For the first time, federal monitors will be posted in all 50 states – making this the largest election monitoring effort in history.
“Election integrity has been one of the top priorities for this administration and this division,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice said in the release.
The monitors will be ensuring compliance with federal voting rights statutes, according to the release, including making sure people with disabilities are able to vote, and that there is no voter intimidation or suppression based on race, color, national origin or religion.
This news comes as democrats in California, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, have expressed concerns about federal interference in California’s election. Newsom and the state Democratic party are sending their own election monitors to polling locations to watch for voter suppression.
— Marisa Kendall