A late-afternoon press conference after a closed-door session with city council members revealed a surprise move by the City of Fresno.
“The City Council has directed our City Attorney’s Office to establish a program where we will be having our city attorney’s personnel monitoring polling sites,” said Nelson Esparza, District 7 City Council Member.
The group confirmed the action with a 6-0 vote, with council member Tyler Maxwell absent from the vote.
The move to place city monitors at more than a dozen polling sites within city limits in Tuesday’s upcoming Special Election.
“The purpose for sending these election observers is not partisan. It is to ensure there’s no voter intimidation; no voter interference, and to make sure all votes are counted,” said Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz.
“Observers does not change how we do things at all,” said James Kus, Fresno County Clerk Registrar of Voters.
Kus learning of the surprise announcement through outreach and was not informed by the City.
“I’ve not had any contact with the City of Fresno regarding observers. That’s not uncommon but it is something we really appreciate occurring beforehand,” said Kus.
The City acted in response to an announcement made by the Department of Justice last week stating it would be sending federal election monitors to five counties in the state — including Fresno.
The Chairwoman of the California Republican Party, Corrin Rankin, sent a letter to the DOJ on October 20 requesting oversight at a handful of countries with discrepancies in the past, including Fresno.
In that letter, Rankin highlights an instance in 20-22 where the County closed the ballot cure deadline after informing a group of voters it would be open later.
“It kind of moves the ball, moves the needle and the communication wasn’t very clear. So, this time I just want to make sure that the things we’re being told as a party, for my volunteers and all of our officials are the things that actually happen this time,” said Rankin.
Action News addressed those exact concerns with Kus.
“The Republican Party noted that back in 2022, we had some confusion about our cured ballot deadline and I received that feedback back in 2022 from campaigns and we made a change right away,” said Kus.
City monitors said it will join state and federal election monitors as early as Friday through Tuesday, pending resources from the City Attorney’s Office.
“If they see anything unusual, they will let us know and, you know, we will take action if necessary,” said Rankin.
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