DOJ Deploys Election Monitors in CA, NJ

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division said it will deploy federal election monitors to polling sites in five California counties—Los Angeles, Fresno, Riverside, Orange and Kern—and to Passaic County, New Jersey, ahead of the Nov. 4, 2025 general election to ensure transparency, ballot security and compliance with federal law. The effort is being overseen by the Civil Rights Division under Harmeet K. Dhillon and will coordinate with U.S. Attorney’s Offices; the division provided an email (VEM@usdoj.gov), said it will accept public questions about voting access, and encouraged residents and jurisdictions to request observation. The DOJ has not clarified whether monitors will be present during early voting, which is beginning in California for Proposition 50, or only on Nov. 4. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said transparency at the polls “translates into faith in the electoral process.” California Governor Gavin Newsom condemned the deployment as federal intimidation that could suppress voters and local activists warned it risks politicizing election protection, while former President Donald Trump has urged the DOJ to pursue investigations of alleged 2020 fraud and pushed for stricter voter ID and limits on mail-in and early voting.