The Department of Justice announced on Friday that it will monitor polls in six heavily Latino counties in New Jersey and California during elections held on Nov. 4.
The announcement comes as concerns mount about how the Trump administration may seek to interfere with and undermine U.S. elections. President Donald Trump has repeatedly cast doubt on election results in every election cycle since he first ran for president, including trying to steal the 2020 election. In March, Trump issued an executive order purporting to alter election laws to require proof of citizenship at the polls, but this was blocked by a court as the president has no unilateral role in setting election laws.
Rick Hasen, an election law professor at UCLA, called the DOJ announcement a “Test run for 2026.”
Amid gubernatorial and state legislative elections in New Jersey and a California ballot initiative election that would enable the legislature to redraw the state’s congressional maps, the DOJ’s monitors will appear at polling locations in Passaic County, New Jersey, and Los Angeles, Fresno, Riverside, Kern and Orange counties in California.
Passaic County has the highest percentage Latino population in New Jersey at nearly 43%. Both Fresno and Kern are majority Latino counties while Los Angeles, Riverside and Orange are among the California counties with the highest Latino populations, each exceeding 1 million. Los Angeles County has a Latino population of 4.8 million. A majority of the population in all of these counties, except for Los Angeles and Orange, voted for Trump in 2024.
