The Trump Administration will monitor upcoming elections in New Jersey and California following requests from Republican officials in the states.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) said it will send observers to six counties in the November 4 elections “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 Pam Bondi. “We will commit the resources necessary to ensure the American people get the fair, free, and transparent elections they deserve.”
The decision follows years of President Donald Trump spreading conspiracy theories about voter fraud, most notably that the 2020 election was stolen.
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The announcement has triggered a backlash from leaders in the Democratic-led states, who accused the Trump Administration of attempting to interfere with the electoral process in key races.
Here’s what to know about the plans.
What are the elections about?
The elections in New Jersey and California are both attracting national attention and could impact the balance of power between Democrats and Republicans.
California is voting on a proposition that would revise the state’s congressional districts to favor Democrats in response to Republican gerrymandering in other states. Over the summer, Texas Republicans voted to redraw the electoral map to create an additional five congressional seats for their party. If voters in California approve Proposition 50, the state would cancel out those seats with five new congressional seats that favor Democrats ahead of the 2026 midterms.
The vote could therefore play a key role in deciding who controls the House after the midterms.
In New Jersey, the race for governor features Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli, competing to replace outgoing Gov. Phil Murphy in a closely-watched contest that has drawn significant spending.
New Jersey has traditionally been a Democratic state, but Republicans have made strong showings there in recent years, and the governor’s race is extremely close.
What prompted the move?
Monitoring elections is a longstanding and routine function of the DOJ, traditionally in places where voting rights or civil rights violations have been alleged. In 2024, the Biden Administration sent monitors to 86 jurisdictions, including all of the major swing states, to “monitor for compliance with federal civil rights laws.”
However, Democrats have raised concerns about the focus on Democratic-run states since Trump’s return to power, especially since his return was fueled in part by conspiracy theories about the last presidential election being stolen from him.
The decision to monitor these two elections was prompted by requests from Republican officials in the two states.
The New Jersey Republican Party chairman, Glenn Paulsen, complained that Democratic members of the Board of Elections in one county blocked the use of security cameras in a ballot storage area, and called on DOJ observers to “oversee the receipt and processing of vote-by-mail ballots” in Passaic County. A judge ordered a new election for a city council seat in the county in 2020 after the winner faced charges of voting fraud.
Then the chairwoman of the California Republican Party, Corrin Rankin, said they had received “reports of irregularities” and formally requested that the DOJ send monitors to five counties.
The DOJ said it will deploy monitors in six counties in total: Los Angeles, Orange, Kern, Riverside and Fresno in California, and Passaic in New Jersey.
The monitoring effort is being managed by the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, of the Civil Rights Division, said in a statement: “Transparent election processes and election monitoring are critical tools for safeguarding our elections and ensuring public trust in the integrity of our elections.”
What have Democrats said?
Democrats in New Jersey and California have characterized the DoJ’s move as an attempt to suppress or interfere with the key votes in November.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom went so far as to accuse the Trump Administration of a “setup.”
“They are creating the pretext that after we’re successful with Prop. 50, after there is a Democratic governor in New Jersey — and will be one in Virginia, unquestionably — that they can suggest somehow these were fraudulent, these elections were rigged against them,” Newsom said. “This is a preview of 2026. Wake up, everybody.”
Newsom also suggested the presence of federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) might intimidate voters.
“You’re also going to see ICE deployed,” he said. “You’re going to see these masked men from Border Patrol also near voting booths and polling places.”
Rusty Hicks, chair of the California Democratic Party, said in a statement that “No amount of election interference by the California Republican Party is going to silence the voices of California voters.”
New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin called the move “highly inappropriate” and said the DOJ “has not even attempted to identify a legitimate basis for its actions.”
A history of false claims
Democratic fears about the DoJ’s election monitoring efforts are motivated at least in part by the Trump Administration’s repeated false claims of election fraud.
For years, Trump has made false claims of large-scale election fraud against his opponents before and after voting, with a particular focus on voting by mail, without providing any evidence.
After losing the 2020 presidential election, Trump falsely claimed it was stolen from him, despite numerous investigations by his own DOJ, lawsuits and independent studies proving otherwise.
Since returning to power, Trump’s DOJ has sued six states for private voter data, which voting rights groups say is part of an effort to support unsubstantiated claims by Trump that millions of undocumented immigrants voted illegally for Democrats.
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