California's Democratic senators are demanding the U.S. Justice Department immediately cancel plans to send federal election observers to the state for its statewide election next week.
In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., wrote that the plan is based on "blatantly partisan motivations" and is "clearly linked" to President Donald Trump's most recent attack on the legitimacy of California's elections.
"Watch how totally dishonest the California Prop Vote is!" Trump wrote last weekend on Truth Social, referring to Proposition 50, which will appear on the state's special election ballot Tuesday.
The senators told Bondi that Trump's statement "is a stain on this deployment and any actions that the department might attempt to take based on it."
They said the department should — at a minimum — provide greater transparency and coordinate with state and local election administrators "to prevent any activities that may lead to voter intimidation or interference with elections."
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.