Trump DOJ election lawsuits and monitors loom over 2026 midterms

The Justice Department’s expanded election presence and a series of lawsuits targeting state election procedures have become central features of the 2026 midterms.

The department said it deployed about 1,000 election monitors and observers across all 50 states—the first time it has done so nationwide. The monitors were assigned to check compliance with federal voting-rights laws.

The monitoring program also became the subject of litigation. A federal court rejected the NAACP’s effort to stop the program but required the government to ensure that its monitors were unarmed and had no arrest powers. The same litigation tracker reported that a court rejected a request from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to block other Justice Department election actions.

The administration also pursued challenges involving ballots and certification. The Justice Department sought to set aside ballots cast by roughly 20,000 California voters it alleged were likely ineligible noncitizens. A federal court barred the government from giving alleged noncitizen voter lists to election administrators, and Reuters reported that the department’s California and Alaska lawsuits were rejected before Election Day.

In Alaska, a federal judge dismissed the Justice Department’s effort to delay certification under specified conditions. The department appealed that ruling.

The result is an election landscape in which federal monitoring and court battles are proceeding alongside state-run voting and certification processes. The litigation tracker and news reports indicate that court rulings have limited several of the administration’s election-related efforts, while the monitoring operation reached every state.