Federal election monitors visited vote centers in San Diego County on Tuesday, Nov. 3, as part of what the U.S. Department of Justice called its largest monitoring effort in history.

The DOJ deployed approximately 1,000 monitors and observers to all 50 states, a first for the agency. The effort was coordinated by the DOJ's Civil Rights Division, according to a DOJ announcement.

San Diego was one of four California counties where monitors were sent. The others were Los Angeles, Alameda and Sacramento, according to NBC San Diego. The DOJ did not specify whether any Del Mar or Solana Beach vote centers were among those visited.

A spokesperson for the San Diego County Registrar of Voters confirmed the monitors' presence, saying the office had been informed that Civil Rights Division monitors were visiting vote centers to check compliance with federal laws on language assistance and voter accessibility, 10News reported.

A department spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times that monitors would be at polling locations but that the department was not giving out precinct details.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division said in a statement that election integrity has been a top priority for the administration and the division.

California pushback

The deployment prompted California to send its own election observers.

State Attorney General Rob Bonta wrote on X on Nov. 3 that the state had observers on the ground in partnership with the California Secretary of State's Office. Bonta said the state had taken the same step during the previous two federal elections when the DOJ deployed monitors.

Gov. Gavin Newsom posted a video on X on Nov. 2 warning against interference with the election. He wrote that anyone who interferes with voters or tampers with ballots would face felony prosecution.

The monitoring came amid a legal fight between the Trump administration and California over roughly 20,000 ballots the DOJ identified as potentially cast by noncitizens. A federal judge in Los Angeles, a federal appeals court and the U.S. Supreme Court all rejected the administration's requests for a restraining order to bar the state from counting those ballots, NBC San Diego reported.

State and local officials said that while there are likely some individual instances of illegal voting, there is no evidence of widespread fraud affecting election outcomes, according to NBC San Diego.

The stakes were high. The DOJ had removed several sworn law enforcement officers from its pool of volunteer monitors after a review with federal agencies, according to a court filing cited by the Los Angeles Times. Remaining monitors were directed to dress in business casual and were barred from wearing insignia, carrying firearms or attempting to arrest would-be voters.

Voters with questions or complaints about possible voting rights violations can call the DOJ at 800-253-3931, email [email protected] or file a complaint at civilrights.justice.gov/report.