Governor Newsom says California sending its own election watchers to monitor voter locations
By Steve Large
California is assembling teams of election attorneys and volunteers to send to key voting locations on Election Day, according to Governor Gavin Newsom.
Gov. Newsom initially made the announcement during his appearance on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ on Wednesday, before following up with a statement to social media doubling down — and announcing it is now a felony to illegally seize ballots in the state.
The Department of Justice announced earlier this year its plans to have observers at key voter locations in California, and has battled with the state in court over requests to set aside mail-in ballots from people the DOJ says may not be citizens.
A federal judge Wednesday ruled against the DOJ and sided with the state, saying it has the authority to administer its own elections.
“A federal badge is not a license to intimidate voters or interfere with an election. We beat Trump’s redistricting power grab. And if he tries to steal this election, we’ll beat him again,” Gov. Newsom said.
The governor said that 134 election law attorneys and trained volunteers will be deployed to key races across the state, including congressional districts CA-6, CA-13, CA-22, CA-45 and CA-48.
“This is like Plato’s Republic where we have to have watchers watch the watchers,” said Sue Blake, chair of the Sacramento County Republican Party. “I think that both parties are going to have their individual watchers, so now we have watchers, watching the watchers, watching the watchers.”
But not everyone is on board with the tactics being used.
Mindy Romero, the director of nonpartisan organization ‘Center for Inclusive Democracy,’ is concerned that the rhetoric surrounding the situation is introducing partisan politics into the election process.
“I just want to see this not be further politicized or made into a partisan dynamic. It’s just the opposite. We need to be pushing people back, and understand that this is democracy for all,” Romero said.
The Sacramento County Registrar’s Office confirmed the Department of Justice has contacted them to say their observers will be present on Election Day.
