Federal election monitors were deployed to San Diego County vote centers Tuesday, Nov. 3, as part of the largest such effort in U.S. history.

Coronado voters cast ballots at San Diego County vote centers.

The U.S. Department of Justice sent approximately 1,000 monitors and observers to all 50 states for the first time, according to a department press release. The effort was coordinated by the Civil Rights Division.

San Diego County Registrar Shawn Brom said his office expected at least eight teams of federal monitors at local polling places, KPBS reported on Instagram. Brom said contingencies were in place if any observer tried to overstep.

"We just want to make sure that regardless of the number of election observers that are at any specific location, that they're not interfering with the voters' right to cast a ballot free from any intimidation or harassment," Brom said.

Observers are not allowed to talk to voters or otherwise interfere in the process under state code, KPBS reported.

San Diego was one of four California counties where monitors were deployed, along with Los Angeles, Alameda and Sacramento, NBC San Diego reported. A spokesperson for the San Diego County Registrar of Voters said the monitors were visiting vote centers to make sure federal laws on language assistance and voter accessibility were being provided, according to 10News.

The deployment came as federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, rejected the Trump administration's attempts to block California from counting ballots cast by people the DOJ identified as potential noncitizens, NBC San Diego reported. State officials called the effort an attempt to suppress voters.

State deploys its own observers

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said on X that the state deployed its own election observers on Nov. 3 in partnership with the California Secretary of State's Office. Bonta said the goal was to ensure no one was discouraged from casting a ballot, according to NBC San Diego.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division said in a statement that the DOJ was "pursuing transparency for elections in an assertive and nondiscriminatory manner."

Brom said San Diego County received federal subpoenas and complied with the law as needed. Voters with questions or complaints about federal voting rights can call the DOJ's election hotline at 1-800-253-3931 or submit a complaint at civilrights.justice.gov/report.