California’s attorney general has announced that his office will be monitoring the Department of Justice’s own election observers ahead of next week’s highly anticipated redistricting vote.
Attorney General Rob Bonta said during a virtual news conference on Monday that state election monitors will provide “oversight and accountability” of the federal government’s observers, KCRA News 3 in Sacramento reported.
“Of course, there will be observers of the so-called election monitors that the DOJ is sending,” Bonta said. “[The federal monitors] will not be allowed to interfere in ways that the law prohibits.”
The DOJ announced last week that it plans to send federal election observers to five counties in Southern and Central California, Los Angeles, Orange, Kern, Riverside, and Fresno, with the goal of ensuring “transparency, ballot security, and compliance with federal law.”
“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,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Bonta said that while the Justice Department’s monitoring efforts are standard procedure when there is historical or legal precedent, “these are not normal times.”
The attorney general noted that it has not yet been decided who will oversee the DOJ observers on behalf of the state.
Possible options include the attorney general’s office, the secretary of State’s office, or the registrars of voters in the affected counties.
“I can’t name names, but there is going to be oversight and accountability,” Bonta said.
Bonta added that DOJ election monitors might intimidate some voters, particularly immigrants, as California prepares to vote on Proposition 50, a ballot measure to redraw its congressional districts in favor of Democrats.
Gov. Gavin Newsom criticized the federal government’s move in a video post last week, saying the Justice Department “has no business” observing California’s election and that the order amounts to “voter intimidation.”
“This is a bridge too far, and I hope people understand it’s a bridge that [the Trump administration is] trying to build, a scaffolding, for elections all across this country next November,” Newsom added, referencing the 2026 midterms.
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