Federal election monitors arrived at Los Angeles County polling locations Tuesday, Nov. 3, as part of the Department of Justice's largest monitoring operation in history.

The DOJ deployed approximately 1,000 monitors and observers to all 50 states, the first time the agency has reached every state, according to a DOJ news release. In California, monitors were assigned to four counties: Los Angeles, Alameda, Sacramento and San Diego.

The department did not disclose which specific precincts would be visited. A DOJ spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times that monitors "will be at polling locations" but that the department is not "giving out precinct details." That means it is unclear whether any monitors will be stationed at Pasadena vote centers.

What the monitors do

The effort is coordinated by the DOJ's Civil Rights Division, which has sent election monitors since the Voting Rights Act became law in 1965, according to the department. Monitors include personnel from the Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney's Offices and federal observers from the Office of Personnel Management.

They are checking compliance with federal voting rights laws, including protections for voters with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and statutes prohibiting voter intimidation or suppression based on race, color, national origin or religion, according to the DOJ release.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division, a former California Republican Party chair, said in a statement that election integrity is a top priority for the administration.

Concerns and pushback

The deployment drew criticism. Some voting rights groups, including the NAACP, said they believe the monitors could suppress turnout and disenfranchise voters, particularly minority voters, USA Today reported. In states with closely contested Senate races, monitors were assigned to cities and counties with disproportionately high Black and Hispanic populations, according to U.S. Census data cited by USA Today.

Eric J. Segall, a law professor at Georgia State University, told the Los Angeles Times: "They're not doing this to make sure that there are free and fair elections."

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said on social media that the state would have its own observers on site watching the federal monitors. Gov. Gavin Newsom deployed 134 election law attorneys and 1,000 volunteer poll workers to guard against voter intimidation and suppression, CalMatters reported.

The monitors arrived one day after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration's push to force California to set aside thousands of ballots from people the federal government alleged are noncitizens, KTVU reported. California officials said the administration's list appeared to contain errors and that setting the ballots aside could disenfranchise legal voters.

Federal prosecutors also issued criminal grand jury subpoenas to three L.A. County election officials, demanding they appear in court the day after the election, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Voters with questions or complaints about federal voting rights can call the DOJ's election hotline at 1-800-253-3931 or email [email protected].