The U.S. Department of Justice deployed election monitors to Los Angeles County on Tuesday, Nov. 3, as part of what the agency called its largest monitoring effort in history.

The DOJ said it sent approximately 1,000 monitors and observers to polling locations across all 50 states. It is the first time the department has reached every state, according to a DOJ press release. In California, the department listed Los Angeles, Alameda, Sacramento and San Diego as monitored jurisdictions.

The DOJ did not disclose which specific polling places would see monitors. A department spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times that monitors "will be at polling locations" but that the department is not "giving out precinct details." South Bay cities fall within Los Angeles County, but it is unclear whether any monitors were assigned to polling sites in Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, El Segundo or Hawthorne.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, who heads the Civil Rights Division, said in a statement that election integrity is a top priority. "I am very proud we are deploying the largest monitoring effort in DOJ history, and pursuing transparency for elections in an assertive and nondiscriminatory manner," Dhillon said.

The effort drew sharp pushback from California officials. Attorney General Rob Bonta said on social media that the state would send its own observers to watch the federal monitors. Gov. Gavin Newsom said on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" that he was focused on deploying over a thousand state poll workers to monitor the DOJ monitors, according to ABC7.

The deployment follows weeks of legal clashes between the Trump administration and California over roughly 20,000 ballots the federal government claimed may belong to noncitizens. Courts sided with the state. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the DOJ's emergency request to set aside those ballots on Oct. 30. The U.S. Supreme Court issued an unsigned decision in California's favor on Nov. 2.

Federal prosecutors also issued criminal grand jury subpoenas to three Los Angeles County election officials, ordering them to appear in court the day after the election, the Times reported. L.A. County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan called the subpoenas threats and intimidation, NPR reported.

A federal judge also imposed restrictions on the monitors. Judge Reggie B. Walton denied an emergency request by the NAACP to block the deployment entirely on Nov. 2 but ordered that monitors remain unarmed and out of uniform, without law enforcement insignia or the authority to make arrests, according to BIN News.

The NAACP had raised concerns that the DOJ planned to use personnel from the Bureau of Prisons, Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as monitors. The DOJ confirmed that FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would not be assigned to polling sites, according to Democracy Docket.

In 2024, the DOJ deployed about 100 monitors, a DOJ lawyer told Judge Walton on Nov. 2, CNBC reported. In 2022, the department sent monitors to 64 jurisdictions across 24 states, according to USA Today.

Voters with questions or complaints about federal voting rights can call the DOJ's election hotline at 1-800-253-3931.