Power Grab/Decide who gets to vote and who counts it
For the first time since 2002, the United States did not invite international observers to watch its federal election.
— For the first time since 2002, the U.S. does not invite OSCE observers to its federal election.
The OSCE’s election office has watched 12 U.S. federal elections, including 6 midterms. On September 23, 2026, it said it had no invitation for November 3. The Justice Department is sending about 1,000 of its own monitors instead.
What happened
On September 23, 2026, the election office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and its Parliamentary Assembly said the United States had not invited them to observe the November 3 midterm elections. The United States is a member of the OSCE, and its observers have watched every U.S. federal election since 2002: 12 in all, including 6 midterms.
The OSCE called the decision “regrettable, particularly given the long-standing co-operation with the country in the field of election observation.” November 3 will be the first U.S. federal election since 2002 that it was not invited to watch.
The administration is sending its own observers instead. The Justice Department plans to send about 1,000 monitors to polling places, an effort framed around preventing ineligible people from voting.
Who benefited
The administration, which will run the first federal election since 2002 with no international observers invited and its own monitors at the polls. Whatever happens on November 3, there will be no international report on how it was run.
Who wanted something
The administration, which has spent the year building its own case about the election. It has sued 30 states for their voter rolls, sought DHS checks of voters and planned to send federal monitors to the polls.
Who lost out
American voters, who will not have an independent international account of their election for the first time since 2002. Human Rights Watch said the decision fuels fears of serious human rights concerns around the elections.
Why it matters
The United States invited OSCE observers to every federal election from 2002 on. This year the only monitors at the polls with federal backing will report to the Justice Department.
Sources swissinfo.chHuman Rights Watch
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