The US midterm elections are proceeding amid a distorted voting environment, with international monitoring excluded and domestic monitoring strengthened, while legal disputes widen over redistricting, citizenship checks and the handling of voter data.
The United States has not invited foreign observer missions for the midterm elections, while domestic monitoring organisations have shifted their focus to monitoring elections within the country. CIVICUS has pointed to democratic backsliding in various areas, while the federal government is reportedly deploying large numbers of election monitors across all 50 states. The OSCE has said it was not invited, indicating that international monitoring was rejected.
While monitoring activities are expanding at the local level, the federal government appears to be moving to deploy monitors in politically advantageous areas, citing restrictions on mail-in voting and enhanced election security and with legal support from civil rights organisations. The Department of Justice has indicated in some cases that it will maintain its distance from state-level monitoring, but the monitoring system itself is changing.
Debate over redistricting has intensified. Since 2025, new maps have been introduced in many states, with Republican-favouring district maps advancing in some, while Democratic-favouring maps have advanced in others, including California. Civil rights organisations have criticised the maps as intended to limit the votes of ethnic minorities, while some maps have been upheld or revised following Supreme Court decisions.
Activity surrounding citizenship checks and the handling of voter registration data has intensified. The Department of Justice has requested registration data from 49 states and DC, prompting a series of lawsuits over privacy and erroneous registrations. DHS is advancing measures to promote broad citizenship checks, and while data disclosure and verification are proceeding in multiple states, concerns about false positives have also been raised.