In this photo illustration, California Proposition 50 special election mailing materials are displayed on October 27, 2025, in Pasadena, California. (Photo Illustration by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
8:22 AM – Friday, October 31, 2025

Democrat senators from California are calling on the United States Justice Department to hold off on sending federal election observers to the state for its special election next week.

Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) sent a letter dated Thursday to Attorney General Pam Bondi to “demand” the Department of Justice (DOJ) “withdraw its planned deployment of staff to monitor state-level, off-year elections due to the Department’s blatantly partisan motivations.”

The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, led by Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, agreed to send poll watchers to five counties in California when asked by Republicans in the state. They plan to watch polling places in Kern, Riverside, Fresno, Orange, and Los Angeles.

California GOP Chairwoman Corrin Rankin had penned a letter to the DOJ that read, “we have received reports of irregularities in these counties that we fear will undermine either the willingness of voters to participate in the election or their confidence in the announced results of the election.”

Schiff and Padilla’s letter to the DOJ, however, insisted that the “deployment of DOJ election observers is not consistent with usual practice,” and that “it is extremely rare” to send off-year election monitors, though the department has done it before.

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“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,” said the senators.

November 4th marks a special election for California in which the state will vote on a proposed measure by Governor Gavin Newsom that would override the independent committee that usually redraws the state’s congressional districts. Newsom launched the statewide campaign in retaliation against Texas, which voted to redraw their maps this year, resulting in five new Republican seats in the House of Representatives. Newsom hopes to gain five Democrat seats in the Golden State.

The Democrat congressmen accused election monitors of planning to “act in concert with party officials or election deniers… given this Administration’s willingness to embrace individuals who attempted to overturn safe and secure elections.”

“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 letter read, ironically drawing a parallel to Newsom’s attempt to assert control over the traditionally independent commission in charge of California’s congressional maps.

“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,” the senators concluded. “As a result, the deployment of Department staff to monitor upcoming elections in California should be canceled immediately.”

They added that the Department should at least “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.”

The governor of California reviled the Justice Department’s decision last week on X.

“Trump is sending the DOJ to California to “monitor” the election. His intentions are clear — he wants to suppress the vote. And when we win, he will falsely lay claim to fraud,” Newsom wrote. “We will not be intimidated. California will defend free and fair elections.”

Trump is sending the DOJ to California to “monitor” the election. His intentions are clear — he wants to suppress the vote. And when we win, he will falsely lay claim to fraud.

We will not be intimidated. California will defend free and fair elections. pic.twitter.com/FcsHFC0Qn4

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) October 25, 2025

If passed, Proposition 50 would transfer the state’s congressional map to the Legislature through 2030.

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