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The U.S. Department of Justice will send election monitors to Fresno County polling sites during California\u2019s upcoming special election in an effort to \u201censure transparency, ballot security, and compliance with federal law,\u201d the department announced Friday<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fresno County Clerk\/Registrar of Voters James Kus told The Fresno Bee that his office has had no communication with the DOJ regarding exactly how or why its agents will monitor the election.<\/p>\n Election observation is not an uncommon practice in Fresno, and the county welcomes anyone who wishes to observe the process, Kus said.<\/p>\n There were multiple observers from local and state organizations in polling locations for Fresno County\u2019s early in-person voting on Saturday and Sunday, Kus said, but he does not believe anyone from the DOJ was present.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are rules about observation, and it really is observation,\u201d Kus said. \u201cYou cannot interfere with the process, but we work to our very best ability for any observer, whether it be from an organization or just a citizen interested in seeing what\u2019s going on, to take a look at it and see that process.\u201d<\/p>\n Fresno is one of five counties in the state where federal personnel from the Justice Department\u2019s Civil Rights Division will be sent. Kern, Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside are the others.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Department regularly deploys its staff to monitor for compliance with federal civil rights laws in elections in communities across the country,\u201d the DOJ said in its announcement.<\/p>\n It has been eight years since the DOJ conducted election observations in Fresno County.<\/p>\n A request for monitors ahead of the Nov. 4 election came from the California Republican Party, the Associated Press reported, where voters will decide whether to approve Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s proposal to redraw the state\u2019s congressional districts to favor Democrats.<\/p>\n Gov. Newsom\u2019s press office opposed the decision on social media shortly after the announcement Friday.<\/p>\n