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(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES – The Department of Justice will send monitors to five California counties for the upcoming Nov. 4 election.
The DOJ said Friday that the monitors will be sent to Los Angeles, Fresno, Riverside, Orange, Kern counties, with a sixth being sent to Passaic County in New Jersey.
The monitors are being sent in order to “ensure transparency, ballot security, and compliance with federal law.”
“Transparency at the polls translates into faith in the electoral process, and this Department of Justice is committed to upholding the highest standards of election integrity,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi in a prepared statement. “We will commit the resources necessary to ensure the American people get the fair, free, and transparent elections they deserve.”
The DOJ said the monitoring effort will be overseen by the department’s Civil Rights Division under the leadership of Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon. The Civil Rights Division will deploy Civil Rights personnel who will coordinate with U.S. Attorney’s Offices.
“This initiative is aimed at promoting transparency and an open flow of communication between poll observers and election monitors to ensure that elections proceed with a high degree of security,” the DOJ said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday lambasted the federal government’s move as an effort to intimidate voters and undermine elections.
“Donald Trump’s puppet DOJ has no business screwing around with next month’s election,” Newsom said. “Sending the feds into California polling places is a deliberate attempt to scare off voters and undermine a fair election.”