“They will not be allowed to access the back rooms, and watch this — they will then express discontent with that,” Newsom predicted. “They will then suggest after we win, because we will and we must, that somehow the election was fraudulent.”
The governor also warned that the deployment to voting locations would expand beyond federal lawyers.
“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.”
Early voting sites are set to open across California on Saturday. The DOJ did not respond to questions about when the poll-monitoring deployment would begin — and whether other federal agencies would be involved.
Local election officials had a more measured response to the announcement of federal poll watchers.
“The presence of election observers is not unusual and is a standard practice across the country,” Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan said in a statement. “Federal election monitors, like all election observers, are welcome to view election activities at designated locations to confirm transparency and integrity in the election process. California has very clear laws and guidelines that support observation and prohibit election interference.”
In advance of the 2024 election, the Biden-led DOJ announced monitoring in 86 jurisdictions across 27 states, including San Joaquin County in California.
The poll-watcher deployment marks the latest conflict between Newsom and President Donald Trump over federal actions in California. The president federalized over 4,000 National Guard troops in Los Angeles earlier this year, over Newsom’s objections. This week, Border Patrol officers arrived in the Bay Area in anticipation of an immigration operation in the region.
Trump’s push to send National Guard troops to Democratic-controlled cities, such as Chicago and Portland, have resulted in high-profile legal and political battles.
On Thursday, Trump said he decided to call off a planned federal “surge” into San Francisco, after a conversation with the city’s mayor, Daniel Lurie. On Friday, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee confirmed the expected immigration enforcement had been canceled in the greater Bay Area as well.
But in a wide-ranging interview with KQED, Newsom said the threats have left a “chill” on residents in the state.
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