Marin County, including San Rafael, is not on the Justice Department’s announced list of California counties receiving federal election monitors Tuesday, Nov. 3.
The department listed Los Angeles, Alameda, Sacramento and San Diego counties as part of a nationwide deployment of approximately 1,000 monitors and observers, according to its announcement. The department described the operation as its largest monitoring effort and the first to cover all 50 states.
The Civil Rights Division is coordinating the operation, drawing personnel from across the Justice Department, U.S. attorney’s offices and the Office of Personnel Management.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said election integrity has been a top priority for the administration.
The deployment expands on the department’s announced monitoring of 86 jurisdictions across 27 states during the 2024 presidential election, according to its 2024 announcement.
The deployment has drawn opposition from voting-rights advocates. The NAACP said Nov. 2 that using law enforcement personnel as monitors could intimidate voters, particularly Black voters.
Later that day, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton denied the group’s request to block the monitoring program. His order required the department to ensure monitors are not sworn law enforcement officers with arrest powers, remain unarmed and do not wear uniforms or visible federal insignia. Monitors also must not interfere with voting or speak to voters inside polling places.
The department said monitors will assess compliance with federal voting rights laws. Its responsibilities include enforcing the Voting Rights Act, the Help America Vote Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, along with federal prohibitions on voter intimidation.
Marin residents can report federal voting rights concerns even though their county is not on the deployment list. The department’s election hotline is 800-253-3931, and complaints can be emailed to [email protected] or submitted through its civil rights reporting portal. Disability-related voting questions or complaints can be directed to 800-514-0301.
