What’s at stake?
Fresno is one of just five California counties that will have federal monitors in place.
Federal agents will be sent to Fresno to “monitor polling sites” during California’s Nov. 4 statewide special election, according to a Friday morning announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Fresno is one of five California counties where federal agents will be dispatched. The others are Kern, Riverside, Orange and Los Angeles counties. In their announcement, U.S. DOJ officials did not highlight any specific election issues that federal agents would look for or address.
It also did not explain how exactly federal agents would monitor polling sites, and any actions they may take during California’s Nov. 4 statewide special election.
Fresno County Clerk/Registrar James Kus told Fresnoland that his office was not contacted by the U.S. DOJ regarding election observation activities. However, he and his office welcome any and all observers of the electoral process.
“It is common for us to have local, state, federal, and sometimes international observers, watching how we administer elections that are accessible, accurate, secure, and transparent,” Kus wrote over email. “We welcome anyone who wants to learn more about how Fresno County conducts elections to observe our operations and review the materials we have on our website at votefresnocounty.com.”
A U.S. DOJ spokesperson did not respond to Fresnoland’s request for comment Friday. Fresnoland sent questions to the federal agency’s public affairs office, asking how it determined which counties to monitor during California’s special election next month. Fresnoland also asked what federal agents would exactly do in monitoring polling sites.
Buddy Mendes, the chair of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors, told Fresnoland that he has full confidence in the integrity of Fresno County’s elections, and full confidence in Kus’ office conducting it.
“I welcome it,” Mendes said over a Friday afternoon phone call, referring to the U.S. DOJ monitoring Fresno County polling sites. “If we’re doing everything right, this shouldn’t be a problem.”
On the first Tuesday of November, voters in California will have to decide on whether to approve Proposition 50. Its passage would allow California to be gerrymandered in the middle of a decade with Democrat-drawn boundaries designed to flip five out of nine Republican-held seats in Congress.
California’s Prop. 50 emerged after Texas state officials gerrymandered their congressional districts at the order of President Donald Trump in an attempt to flip five Democrat-held seats in Congress. Unlike California, Texas did not pose the question to voters; its state officials just went ahead with gerrymandering their congressional districts.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office objected to the decision early Friday, noting that California’s statewide election over Prop. 50 is not a federal election. It also said the Trump administration is attempting to undermine free and fair elections.
“Deploying these federal forces appears to be an intimidation tactic meant for one thing: suppress the vote,” Newsom’s press office said on social media.
Mendes said that he does not think US DOJ agents being sent to Fresno is an intimidation tactic, and he added that it wouldn’t intimidate voters either.
“I think anybody that is going to claim voter intimidation — that’s a henhouse comment because they can’t answer why,” Mendes said.
Mendes also said he does not have any questions about why Fresno County was selected.
How often does the U.S. DOJ send federal agents to observe local elections?
Kus told Fresnoland that since he was elected in 2021, the U.S. DOJ has not sent staff to observe Fresno County’s elections. However, back in 2016, Kus said the federal agency did send election observers to Fresno County, who were focused on ADA accessibility at polling sites.
Lisa Bryant, the chair of Fresno State’s Department of Political Science, told Fresnoland that the U.S. DOJ’s Civil Rights Division has performed election monitoring in many states in the past. She added that the federal government is able to place observers in any state for any election, and federal races do not need to be on a ballot to do so.
Bryant said she was surprised to see the list of counties that will be monitored by the U.S. DOJ, with the exception of Los Angeles County. Back in August, federal prosecutors announced they’d be bringing foreign bribery charges against Smartmatic, an election tech company that won a $282 million contract to run Los Angeles County’s 2020 election.
However, Bryant noted that those issues have nothing to do with the integrity of the elections themselves, only alleged misuse and misreporting of funds.
Bryant was surprised to see the four other counties on the list, including Fresno, “because there is no real evidence to suggest that DOJ observers are needed in any of those counties.”
However, election observers are not inherently bad. Elections in the United States are supposed to be transparent and open for even the public to observe.
“The other counties all have competitive congressional districts that have been or are currently held by Republican representatives,” Bryant said. “Though given the competitive districts, it is interesting that Merced County was not selected as well.”
She added that there isn’t any reason to doubt Fresno County’s electoral process.
“Fresno County elections are very transparent and well-run,” Bryant said. “They comply with federal laws, the Voters Choice Act requirements, and the California election code. We have had several close Congressional races and that is likely the reason Fresno County was selected.”
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