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<\/a><\/p>\nFresno is one of the jurisdictions to be monitored.<\/p>\n
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, a San Francisco-based conservative who heads the department\u2019s Civil Rights Division, is overseeing the operation.<\/p>\n
\u201cTransparent election processes and election monitoring are critical tools for safeguarding our elections and ensuring public trust in the integrity of our elections,\u201d Dhillon said in a news release<\/a>.<\/p>\n A DOJ spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions about what the monitoring will entail.<\/p>\n Why Fresno?<\/p>\n The move has drawn criticism from California leaders, including Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta.<\/p>\n California plans to use its own monitors to observe the federal monitors.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re not going to be allowed to interfere in ways that the law prohibits,\u201d Bonta said Monday, as reported by Politico<\/a>. \u201cWe cannot be naive. The Republican Party asked for the U.S. DOJ to come in.\u201d<\/p>\n California GOP Chair Corrin Rankin requested the election monitors, the party said in an post on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rankin told GV Wire that election observers are routine.<\/p>\n \u201cDOJ sent monitors to Alameda, Napa, and Siskiyou Counties in 2016 under President Obama, and to Los Angeles and Sonoma Counties in 2022 under President Biden. We\u2019ve asked for federal monitors in Fresno and other counties because this is about transparency and accountability, not politics.\u201d<\/p>\n Rankin detailed concerns about Fresno in an Oct. 20 letter to Dhillon<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Fresno County in 2022, the county closed the ballot-cure deadline after telling some voters it would be open later, providing a moving target that sapped confidence in the fairness of the election,\u201d Rankin wrote.<\/p>\n Fresno County Clerk\/Registrar of Voters James Kus explained the confusion. He said he had set a deadline for voters to fix or \u201ccure\u201d ballots that had issues with signatures. State law allows voters to correct issues such as a missing or mismatched signature.<\/p>\n \u201cWe did try to extend that deadline to the very last moment, using basically a floating deadline situation. It was the first election where we didn\u2019t set a hard deadline, and that created some confusion. I acknowledged it at the time, and we changed our process back to a set deadline,\u201d Kus said.<\/p>\n Kus said state law has changed since then to establish a hard deadline.<\/p>\n Rankin also requested monitoring in Kern, Riverside, Orange and Los Angeles counties.<\/p>\n Monitors Are Allowed<\/p>\n Kus said he welcomes all observers in for elections.<\/p>\n \u201cIt 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,\u201d Kus said.<\/p>\n Mike Karbassi, the Fresno city council president challenging Kus in 2026 for the clerk job, also has no issues with monitors.<\/p>\n \u201cAnyone that wants to monitor an election, whether it\u2019s a DOJ, whether it is the Attorney General, whether is the city of Fresno \u2014 as long as they don\u2019t interfere with elections, they have every right to do that. I\u2019ll put it this way, I\u2019m not surprised they\u2019ve chosen Fresno County,\u201d Karbassi said.<\/p>\n State law enshrines the right of observers<\/a>, both at polling places and ballot counting locations. There are laws against voter intimidation as well.<\/p>\n Secretary of State Shirley Weber sent a list of dos and don\u2019ts<\/a> to county clerks on Sept. 23.<\/p>\n