DOJ to Deploy Election Observers in NJ, California

The U.S. Department of Justice said it will deploy federal election observers to polling sites on Nov. 4 in Passaic County, New Jersey, and five California counties — Los Angeles, Orange, Kern, Riverside and Fresno — to ensure transparency, ballot security and compliance with federal law. The deployments follow formal requests from state Republican parties, which cited alleged irregularities including voter‑list maintenance and handling of vote‑by‑mail ballots and asked Civil Rights Division personnel to observe and take complaints. California GOP chair Corrin Rankin pointed to the Justice Department’s lawsuit over Orange County voter records, and New Jersey Republicans sought measures such as cameras, access logbooks and bipartisan presence during signature verification in Passaic. Democrats and state officials, including New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office, condemned the deployments as inappropriate federal interference or intimidation in off‑year and state ballot contests — notably California’s Prop 50 special election and New Jersey’s open governor’s race. The Civil Rights Division — overseeing the effort and led in this matter by Harmeet Dhillon — and some county election officials say monitoring is a routine enforcement tool, but critics warn the timing and targeting of Democratic strongholds could further politicize election administration.