Padilla, Schiff Demand Trump Administration Cancel Partisan Deployment of Election Monitors to California

Senators: "This deployment is clearly linked to President Trump's continued perpetuation of lies relating to alleged fraud in our elections and his opposition to California's Proposition 50."

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla, Ranking Member of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee and California's former Secretary of State, and Adam Schiff (both D-Calif.) demanded the Trump Administration call off its blatantly partisan plan to deploy Department of Justice (DOJ) staff to monitor state elections in California. The Senators warned that these highly unusual, unwarranted deployments could intimidate voters and perpetuate President Trump's repeated election disinformation and contempt for state and local election officials.

Trump has already spewed conspiracy theories about the security of early and mail-in voting to lay the groundwork for disputing election results, including for California's Proposition 50. Shortly after the announcement that DOJ election monitors would be deployed to California and New Jersey, Trump posted on Truth Social: "Watch how totally dishonest the California Prop Vote is!" California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the state will dispatch its own monitors to oversee DOJ's election observers.

Alarmingly, the Department's claim that its initiative would "promot[e] transparency and an open flow of communication between poll observers and election monitors" suggests that DOJ may coordinate with Republican candidates and election denier groups to lay the foundation for continued baseless attacks on election administration and results. The Senators also urged DOJ to clarify whether it is sending career Department staff or political appointees, and which other poll observers it is prioritizing open communication with.

"Since the President has been very clear about his motives and claims of power over the Department's day-to-day law enforcement activities, this deployment runs the very real risk of intimidating voters and turning the Department into a tool of partisan and frivolous election-related challenges," wrote the Senators to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

"The circumstances around the Department's planned deployment create a clear perception of a partisan motive and undermine the credibility of the Department to rely or act on the work of these observers. As a result, the deployment of Department staff to monitor upcoming elections in California should be canceled immediately," continued the Senators. "At a minimum, the Department should provide greater transparency, coordinate with state and local election administrators, and ensure that its employees comply with federal and state law, Department policies, and ethical requirements to prevent any activities that may lead to voter intimidation or interference with elections."

DOJ monitors were only ordered to be deployed to Democratic-led states at the request of Republicans in California and New Jersey, differentiating this effort from previous mobilizations to a large number of states. Despite claims by senior DOJ officials, election observers are rarely sent to monitor state level off-year elections, further raising suspicions.

Finally, the Senators criticized DOJ's politicization of its election monitoring announcement, excluding all reminders of the Department's impartiality and including a statement from Bill Essayli, former Acting U.S. Attorney of the Central District of California, who has been found by a federal court to be acting in that position unlawfully. One of DOJ's election monitors reportedly being sent to California is a senior political appointee, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michael Gates, who has made numerous partisan and political social media posts, including attacks on vote by mail, while serving in his official role.

Senator Padilla has led the charge in opposing the Administration's ongoing illegal efforts to investigate unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud and influence state election administration. Last month, Padilla condemned DOJ's lawsuits against eight states, including California, for their refusal to surrender unrestricted access to their state's sensitive voter information and registration lists. Earlier this month, Senator Padilla and Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio-03) announced the Voter Purge Protection Act to prevent the Trump Administration's ongoing voter purge efforts, including by prohibiting the removal of individuals from the voter rolls due to changes in residence or not voting in previous elections. Padilla has also co-authored an amicus brief and letter expressing serious concerns that recent changes to and the expanded use of the insufficiently tested Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program could purge eligible citizens from state voter rolls.

Full text of the letter is available here and below:

Dear Attorney General Bondi:

We write to demand the Department of Justice (the Department or DOJ) withdraw its planned deployment of staff to monitor state-level, off-year elections due to the Department's blatantly partisan motivations.

Contrary to claims made by senior Department officials, this deployment of DOJ election observers is not consistent with usual practice. While the Department has previously used its authority to send election monitors to state-level, off-year elections, it is extremely rare.

We are further alarmed that this deployment is clearly linked to President Trump's continued perpetuation of lies relating to alleged fraud in our elections and his opposition to California's Proposition 50. Shortly after the DOJ's deployment announcement, the President falsely posted, without evidence: "[w]atch how totally dishonest the California Prop [v]ote is[.]" This statement, in the context of all his repeated election conspiracy theories, is a stain on this deployment and any actions that the Department might attempt to take based on it.

The Department has also publicly confirmed that these monitors are being deployed only to California and New Jersey at the request of Republican party officials in these states. DOJ has tried to justify this decision by the thinnest of grounds, such as two California counties' opposing unfettered access to protected voter data. This is also in contrast to numerous recent election monitoring efforts by DOJ which were not based on partisan affiliation. The last DOJ election monitor deployment in 2024 went to a wide range of states led by both Democrats and Republicans, as it did in 2022, 2016, 2014, and other prior years.

The DOJ's announcement also stated: "[t]his initiative is aimed at promoting transparency and an open flow of communication between poll observers and election monitors" (emphasis added). This unusual statement indicates DOJ election monitors are planning to coordinate with third party election observers, which could include partisan actors or others who have worked to undermine confidence in elections, such as Cleta Mitchell's Election Integrity Network. Given this Administration's willingness to embrace individuals who attempted to overturn safe and secure elections, DOJ's announcement indicates its staff on the ground intend to act in concert with party officials or election deniers.

In addition, the President has repeatedly asserted inappropriate control over the traditionally independent administration of the Department's law enforcement powers to investigate and prosecute individuals. The Department's announcement included a statement from the former Acting US Attorney of the Central District of California, another significant departure from prior DOJ communications, but failed to affirm the Department's duty to be impartial and unbiased, especially in the context of elections. Since the President has been very clear about his motives and claims of power over the Department's day-to-day law enforcement activities, this deployment runs the very real risk of intimidating voters and turning the Department into a tool of partisan and frivolous election-related challenges.

In sum, the circumstances around the Department's planned deployment create a clear perception of a partisan motive and undermine the credibility of the Department to rely or act on the work of these observers. As a result, the deployment of Department staff to monitor upcoming elections in California should be canceled immediately.

At a minimum, the Department should provide greater transparency, coordinate with state and local election administrators, and ensure that its employees comply with federal and state law, Department policies, and ethical requirements to prevent any activities that may lead to voter intimidation or interference with elections.

Sincerely,

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