The Trump administration is planning to send election monitors to observe California’s special election on redistricting — but those observers will themselves be watched, the state’s top law enforcement official said this week.
“Of course, there will be observers of the election monitors,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta told reporters during a press conference.
Bonta said federal election observers will be permitted to do what they’ve always had the right to do, which is to watch and observe what goes on at a voting location or ballot processing center. But, Bonta said, intimidating or harassing voters is strictly prohibited, and monitors can’t simply “start grabbing ballots and doing their own count.”
Related: Southern California’s guide to Prop. 50, the 2025 redistricting election
“Like anything, there is oversight and accountability to ensure that roles are being followed … and no one is acting outside of their role or doing anything that’s unlawful or prohibited. That applies to the U.S. DOJ election monitors as well,” Bonta said.
The attorney general said it was to be determined who exactly would monitor the election observers, but staff from his office, the California secretary of state’s office and local county election offices would potentially play a role.
Sending in election observers
The U.S. Department of Justice announced last week that it will dispatch election monitors to five counties in California — including Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties — “to ensure transparency, ballot security, and compliance with federal law.”
The request for the monitors came from the California Republican Party, which had written to the Justice Department, alleging “reports of irregularities” in the five counties in past elections.
After the Justice Department’s announcement, Gov. Gavin Newsom accused President Donald Trump of attempting to suppress voters.
“This is about voter intimidation. This is about voter suppression. Period. Full stop,” Newsom said.
Bonta said that while transparency in the election process is welcome, he did not feel federal election monitors are needed. The decision to send in federal monitors was a partisan one, the state attorney general said, adding that claims of widespread voter fraud, peddled by Trump and his Republican allies, have never been proven true.
Bonta accused Trump of laying the groundwork to claim voter fraud again, including in next year’s midterm elections and possibly beyond.
“He is socializing an idea that is very dangerous about potential election interference and fraud when it does not exist,” Bonta said. “It is par for the course for him. It is his M.O. (modus operandi) to lie.”
Asked about the comments by Newsom and Bonta, a spokesperson for the U.S. DOJ pointed to an X post by Harmeet Dhillon, an assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s civil rights division and former vice chair of the California Republican Party.
“Lol calm down bro,” Dhillon wrote in response to a post from Newsom criticizing the Trump administration’s decision to send in election monitors.
“The (Justice Department) under Democrat administrations has sent in federal election observers for decades, and not once did we hear that this was voter intimidation from states such as California,” Dhillon’s post continued. “Do you really want to go there? Isn’t transparency a good thing?”
A spokesperson for the California Republican Party did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment about the remarks by Newsom and Bonta. But the organization recently posted a comment on X similar to Dhillon’s, in reaction to a post by Newsom’s press office saying that the U.S. DOJ “has no business or basis” to interfere with the ongoing election because it is not a federal election.
The California Republican Party responded with, “If there’s nothing to hide or wrong, why the concern in having the DOJ observe the elections departments? Isn’t transparency a good thing that only strengthens trust in our process, system, and government?”
What election observers do
Generally speaking, any member of the public has the right to observe elections as they take place in California, so long as they do not harass or intimidate voters or otherwise interfere with normal business.
During a press call with reporters on Tuesday, California Secretary of State Shirley Weber said election observers sent by the federal government will have the same rights as any other member of the public who wishes to observe the election process.
And, just like any other observer, they will not be allowed to carry a gun or other weapons, Weber said.
“When you walk in that polling place, it will look just like any other polling place you’ve seen before. … This is not an armed guard situation,” she said.
Earlier this week, Shilpi Agarwal, a representative for the American Civil Liberties Union, said her organization also plans to have observers monitoring what happens at vote centers and ballot drop boxes to ensure every voter is able to cast their ballot safely and freely. The ACLU, Agarwal said, typically has observers for major elections.
Members of the general public also have a right to be observers.
Although not required, the L.A. County registrar’s office encourages anyone interested in observing first to complete a training provided by the office that familiarizes the rules about what they can or cannot do as an observer. A guide to the county’s election observation program is also available online.
Similarly, the Orange County registrar’s office posted its election observer guidelines online.
The OC registrar’s office said Tuesday it had been informed that the U.S. DOJ plans to have two election monitors in Orange County from Monday through Thursday of next week, Nov. 3-6.
Elizabeth Florer, spokesperson for the Riverside County registrar’s office, also said in an email that the registrar’s ballot processing facility is open for observation in person or via livestream cameras.
“We welcome everyone to witness the process firsthand and learn more about how ballots are securely handled and accurately counted,” Florer said.
Anyone aware of election misconduct may report it by calling the secretary of state’s confidential voter hotline at 800-345-8683, emailing elections@sos.ca.gov or filing an online voter complaint form.
