A voter filling out a ballot at the Green Spring Gardens polling station in Lincolnia, Virginia, US, June 20, 2023.
(New York) – The Trump administration’s decision not to invite the leading international election observation body to monitor crucial US midterm polls fuels fears of serious human rights concerns around the upcoming elections, Human Rights Watch said today.
“The US government has long criticized Russia and other governments for dodging external scrutiny of their elections,” said Philippe Bolopion, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “Now the Trump administration is mimicking that behavior.”
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which has observed every US federal election since 2002, called the decision “regrettable” and “not in line with” US commitments. Just over a month before the elections, the United States is mired in several controversies that raise concerns about the rights of voters, Human Rights Watch said.
The Supreme Court on September 25, 2026, granted an emergency appeal by the Trump administration to overturn a ruling that had temporarily barred the government from using the current version of the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database to verify voters’ citizenship.
Since 2002, the OSCE has observed 12 rounds of elections in the United States, including six midterm elections. OSCE observers were invited to observe the 2018 midterms during President Donald Trump’s first term and issued a 38-page report at the time. Most recently, the organization observed the 2024 election, which brought President Trump into office for a second term. The organization deemed that election “well-run” and said that candidates campaigned “freely across the country,” with “voters engaging actively.”
Human Rights Watch wrote to the State Department seeking
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