Newsom Says Trump Is 'Rigging the Election' With Federal Poll Monitors [View all]

Source: KQED San Francisco, CA/NPR

Oct 24, 2025 Updated Oct 25, 2025


Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday accused the Trump administration of “rigging the election” by dispatching federal poll monitors to five California counties, as voters cast ballots on Newsom’s Proposition 50 redistricting measure.

The Department of Justice announced Friday that it would deploy personnel to polling sites in Fresno, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties to “ensure transparency, ballot security, and compliance with federal law,” ahead of the state’s Nov. 4 special election.

In an interview with KQED’s Political Breakdown, Newsom said the move was a “setup” for the Trump administration to cast doubt on the potential victory of Proposition 50 — a plan to redraw the state’s congressional district lines to advantage Democrats.

“They are creating the pretext that after we’re successful with Prop. 50, after there is a Democratic governor in New Jersey — and will be one in Virginia, unquestionably — that they can suggest somehow these were fraudulent, these elections were rigged against them,” Newsom said. “This is a preview of 2026. Wake up, everybody.”

Read more: https://www.kqed.org/news/12061445/newsom-says-trump-is-rigging-the-election-with-federal-poll-monitors