Overview
- Justice Department staff from the Civil Rights Division are stationed at polling sites in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Kern and Fresno counties in California, plus Passaic County, New Jersey.
- Federal monitors are limited to observing and documenting potential violations of federal voting laws and are not permitted to handle ballots, access machines, or interact with voters or poll workers.
- California and New Jersey officials criticized the deployment as overreach and said they have placed state observers to watch for any improper conduct by federal personnel.
- ICE said it is not targeting polling places for enforcement, adding that a dangerous individual encountered near a site could be arrested, a caveat that has fueled voter-intimidation concerns.
- The monitoring follows requests from state Republican parties citing alleged irregularities; early turnout data show Latino participation roughly in line with past off-year elections, as some voters report the operations have motivated them to vote.