Why is the Trump administration sending election observers to California and New Jersey?

This article originally appeared on PolitiFact.

The Trump administration is sending election observers to New Jersey and California, where voters are casting ballots in politically contentious elections.

The Justice Department will send observers to Passaic County in New Jersey and five counties in California to “ensure transparency, ballot security and compliance with federal law” in response to requests from Republicans in both states.

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This move angered some critics of the Trump administration.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said state officials will monitor the monitors. California Governor Gavin Newsom said that the Trump administration “does not have the right” to send observers to the state’s elections and described these measures as “voter intimidation” and “voter suppression.”

Assistant District Attorney Harmeet Dhillon asked Newsom on Channel X to “calm down.”

“The Department of Justice under Democratic administrations has sent federal election observers for decades,” Dillon’s post said.

This is true, despite occasional Republican resistance.

Election experts said observers represent a legal and long-standing federal practice. The Biden, Obama, and Trump administrations have sent election observers to state or local elections.

“They’re just there to look,” said Justin Levitt, a Loyola Law School professor who served in the Biden administration. “For surveillance. That’s literally all it is.”

Californians vote on Proposition 50, which will determine the state’s congressional map. In the race for governor of New Jersey, Democratic US Representative Mikie Sherrill faces former Republican state legislator Jack Ciattarelli.

The Justice Department did not mention any plans to send observers to other November 4 elections in Virginia or New York City, where voters are casting ballots for governor and mayor, respectively.

The department did not say how many monitors it would deploy in California and New Jersey.

Federal observers have been visiting election sites for decades

Federal observers have visited polling places since the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965.

The Ministry of Justice decides where the monitors will be sent. Appointees monitor, take notes — in case the administration takes further action — and prevent violations of federal law.

The monitors work in the department’s Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorneys’ offices. They are not law enforcement officers, and do not have access to ballots or voting machines. Observers are generally experienced Justice Department lawyers and are unlikely to be noticed by voters, said David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research.

They monitor compliance with many voting laws, including those prohibiting voter suppression based on race.

Will observers enter voting sites?

A Passaic County spokesman said observers will only be outside polling places.

Observers typically stay outside polling places, but enter if ordered by a court or invited by election officials, said Ezra Rosenberg, director of appellate affairs at the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey. He described it as unusual for the Justice Department to say it would monitor “ballot security” because the department typically monitors compliance with the Voting Rights Act.

Bob Page, the registrar of voters in Orange County, California, told PolitiFact that Justice Department lawyers are allowed the same access as the public to observe at voting centers and in ballot processing.

“It is common for us to have local, state, federal, and sometimes international, observers monitoring how we administer elections that are accessible, accurate, fair, secure and transparent,” Page said.

Officials in Fresno and Riverside counties in California made similar statements about the monitors’ access.

Why did Republicans ask for election observers?

New Jersey Republicans requested observers after the county elections board blocked a Republican request to install video surveillance of stored ballots.

In California, the state Republican Party said there were irregularities in the recent elections. We have contacted the party to inquire about details and have not received any response.

Groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and the League of Women Voters of New Jersey maintain hotlines that voters can call if they have problems. Groups that monitor voting rights encouraged eligible voters to cast their ballots as usual.

“Voters can have full confidence in New Jersey’s elections and know they have the right to vote without intimidation or interference,” said Jessie Burns, executive director of the League of Women Voters of New Jersey. “Election monitoring by the Department of Justice is not unusual, and it cannot interfere with a voter’s ability to cast a ballot.”