Trump Is Trying To Subvert California's Nov. 4 Election Results, State Attorney General Says - Beritaja

SACRAMENTO — Atty. General Rob Bonta said Monday that he anticipates the Trump administration, which past week announced plans to usage national predetermination monitors successful California, will usage false reports of voting irregularities to situation the results of the Nov. 4 typical election.

Bonta, California’s apical rule enforcement officer, said connected a telephone pinch reporters that he is “100%” concerned about mendacious accusations of wrongdoing astatine the polling places.

Bonta said it would beryllium “naive” to presume Trump would judge the results of the Nov. 4 predetermination fixed his history of lying about predetermination outcomes, including his nonaccomplishment to President Biden successful 2020.

The lawyer wide besides warned that Trump’s strategies whitethorn beryllium a preview of what the state mightiness spot successful the 2026 election, erstwhile power of the U.S. House of Representatives — and the destiny of Trump’s arguable governmental schedule — will beryllium astatine stake.

“All indications, each arrows, show that this is simply a tee-up for thing much vulnerable successful the 2026, midterms and possibly beyond,” Bonta said.

The U.S. Department of Justice past week announced it would nonstop predetermination monitors to 5 California counties wherever voters are casting ballots successful the Proposition 50 predetermination to determine whether to redraw state’s legislature boundaries.

Federal predetermination monitors will sojourn sites crossed Southern California and successful the Central Valley, successful Fresno, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties, the Justice Department said past week.

Gov. Gavin Newsom called the move an “intimidation tactic” aimed astatine suppressing support for Proposition 50 and inappropriate national interference successful a authorities election.

While national monitoring is routine, peculiarly successful national elections, it precocious has been viewed pinch heightened skepticism from some parties. When the Justice Department nether President Biden announced monitoring successful 86 jurisdictions crossed 27 states during past November’s statesmanlike election, immoderate Republican-led states balked and sought to artifact the effort.

Democrats person been highly fishy of the Trump administration’s plans for monitoring elections, successful portion because of Trump’s relentless denial of past predetermination losses — including his ain to Biden successful 2020 — and his assignment of chap predetermination deniers to high-ranking positions successful his administration, including successful the Justice Department.

The California Republican Party requested the predetermination monitors and cited respective concerns about voting patterns and issues successful respective counties, according to a missive it sent to the Dept. of Justice.

Bonta, successful his remarks Monday questioned the GOP claims, and denied the beingness of immoderate wide fraud that would require national predetermination monitors. He compared the monitors to Trump’s determination to dispatch the National Guard to Democratic-led cities, contempt an outcry from section politicians who said the troops were not necessary.

More broadly, Bonta told reporters that the Trump management appears to beryllium fresh to conflict the Nov. 4 results if Prop. 50 passes.

“People ballot and you judge the will of the voters -- that’s what populist is. But that’s not what they’re teeing themselves up to do based connected everything that we’ve seen, everything that’s been said,” said Bonta, describing Trump’s caller telephone connected societal media for Republicans to “wake up.”

Bonta besides said that the authorities would dispatch observers — perchance from his office, the caput of authorities and region registrars — to watch the national monitors astatine polling places.

Early voting has already started successful California, pinch voters deciding whether to temporarily reconfigure the state’s legislature territory boundaries. The Democratic-led California Legislature placed the measurement connected the Nov. 4 ballot successful an effort to summation their party’s numbers successful the U.S. House of Representatives .

Gov. Gavin Newsom and different backers of the measurement person said they mostly support independent redistricting processes and will push for nonpartisan commissions nationwide, but based on that Democrats must conflict backmost against Trump’s existent efforts to person Republican states reconfigure their legislature districts to guarantee the GOP retains power of Congress aft the 2026 election.

Natalie Baldassarre, a spokesperson for the U.S. Dept. of Justice, declined to remark connected Bonta’s remarks. Baldassarre besides declined to opportunity really galore predetermination monitors would activity successful California.

Federal predetermination monitors observe polling places to guarantee compliance pinch the national voting authorities laws, and are trained to observe and enactment arsenic “flies connected the wall,” said David Becker, executive head of the nonpartisan and nonprofit Center for Election Innovation and Research, successful an question and reply past week.

“Generally, what you do is locomotion inside, enactment disconnected to the side, good distant from wherever immoderate voters are, and return immoderate notes,” said Becker, an lawyer who formerly worked successful the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.