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The Justice Department is sending 1,000 federal observers to all 50 states to monitor the midterm elections

Raluca Ioana Draghici

3 November 2026, 19:27

International

Diana Apfelbacher / Zuma Press / Profimedia

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The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday that it will send approximately 1,000 federal election observers to all 50 U.S. states to monitor how the midterm elections are conducted.

The observers will monitor the electoral process on Election Day as part of a nationwide deployment. The measure is aimed at overseeing the elections and verifying compliance with electoral procedures at polling stations.

The announcement represents the main new development communicated by federal authorities ahead of the election. According to information provided by The Associated Press, the Department of Justice did not offer, in the cited announcement, additional details regarding the allocation of observers or the criteria based on which the monitored polling stations will be selected.

Midterm elections take place halfway through the presidential cycle and are held throughout the United States. They include races for Congress and for numerous local and state-level offices. By sending federal observers to all 50 states, U.S. authorities are announcing extensive monitoring of the electoral process.

Context: Before the “midterms,” the Trump administration challenged the electoral process and pushed allegations regarding California ballots

Shortly before the midterm elections, the Department of Justice asked the Supreme Court to order California to separate ballots deemed “suspicious,” claiming that more than 20,000 people without U.S. citizenship were registered to vote. The move came amid Donald Trump’s repeated allegations of electoral fraud and foreign citizens’ participation, while a federal judge in Los Angeles rejected the request, warning that the measure could create “chaos” and undermine voters’ confidence.

In parallel, campaigns intensified their mobilization amid high turnout: by Friday, a record 47,922,669 Americans had voted early, after surpassing the previous threshold set in 2022. Experts cautioned, however, that early voting does not allow the final result to be predicted.