Federal election monitors fanned out across San Diego County vote centers on Tuesday, Nov. 3, as part of the largest election monitoring operation in U.S. Department of Justice history.

The DOJ deployed approximately 1,000 monitors and observers to all 50 states for the first time, according to a department press release. San Diego was one of four California counties where monitors were assigned. Los Angeles, Alameda and Sacramento counties also received monitors.

San Diego County Registrar of Voters Shawn Brom told NBC 7 in an interview published Oct. 28 that the monitors would be plainclothes observers checking compliance with federal voting rights and accessibility laws. He said they would visit roughly 40 to 50 vote centers.

"There will be no badges. Nobody in suits out there at a vote center providing any form of distraction or interference," Brom said. "What you'll be seeing is just a monitor looking at the procedures that's taking place."

Brom said the monitors are part of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division and focus on physical accessibility and language assistance requirements under the Voting Rights Act and the Help America Vote Act. A spokesperson for the registrar's office confirmed to 10News that monitors were visiting vote centers on Nov. 3.

The effort drew both support and pushback. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division said in a statement that the deployment pursued "transparency for elections in an assertive and nondiscriminatory manner."

Voting rights groups, including the NAACP, sued in October seeking records about the operation, warning the expanded federal presence could intimidate voters, Newsweek reported. Election authorities in at least five states restricted or challenged the federal monitors' access to polling places.

In an Oct. 28 court filing, the DOJ said FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel would not serve as monitors, according to Newsweek. The department said monitors would not carry firearms or exercise law enforcement authority while on duty.

California officials respond

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the state deployed its own election observers on Nov. 3 in partnership with the secretary of state's office. Bonta wrote on X that the state had sent observers during the previous two elections when the federal government deployed monitors.

Gov. Gavin Newsom posted a video on X on Nov. 2 warning against interference. NBC San Diego reported Newsom wrote, "If you interfere with voters or tamper with ballots, you will be prosecuted with a felony."

The DOJ's monitoring came amid a legal dispute over California voter records. The department sought to prevent the state from tallying votes cast by 20,000 people it identified as potential non-citizens, NBC San Diego reported. 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, according to NBC San Diego. State and local officials said that while there are likely some individual instances of illegal voting, there is no evidence of widespread fraud influencing election outcomes, NBC San Diego reported.

Polls were open statewide from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 3. Voters with questions about federal voting rights can call the DOJ's election hotline at 1-800-253-3931.