Millions vote in 2026 midterms amid Justice Department monitoring concerns

Early in-person and mail voting ran 34% higher than in 2022

More than 61 million ballots had already been cast during early voting before Tuesday’s election, and the University of Florida’s Election Lab reported that early in-person and mail-in voters cast 34% more ballots nationwide than in the 2022 midterm general election. The Election Lab said the pre-Election Day increase was driven mainly by in-person voting.

NPR reported that the New Mexico secretary of state’s office received reports that Justice Department monitors had asked unusual questions and questioned voters in Bernalillo County, which is home to Albuquerque. Spokesperson Lindsey Bachman said in a statement: “The New Mexico Department of Justice reached out to the DOJ Team Lead on our office’s behalf to address this reported behavior, and we received assurances it would be addressed.”

Justice Department sent monitors to every state

The Trump administration’s Justice Department had announced plans to place around 1,000 monitors at polling places on Election Day. Shortly after the first polls opened on the East Coast on Tuesday, the department said it was sending monitors to observe voting in every state. Harmeet Dhillon, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement: “Election integrity has been one of the top priorities for this Administration and this Division.”

NPR said that sending election observers had been a routine way to document any racial discrimination at the polls under past administrations since the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The outlet described ongoing claims of widespread voter fraud from President Trump and other federal officials as baseless and said those claims had heightened worries among many local officials and election experts that this administration’s Justice Department election monitors would interfere with voting at the polls.

By Tuesday evening, however, NPR said no such interference activity had been reported. Concerns about Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity and law-enforcement presence near polling sites also had not come to pass, as of 9 p.m. ET. Many voting observers considered the day fairly normal as voters exercised their rights.

Election Day operations included delays, flooding and scanner issues

Tens of millions of voters cast ballots Tuesday without widespread disruption, NPR reported, and polls remained open in much of the western United States until later that day. Election administrators in some communities responded to relatively common Election Day issues, including delayed poll openings, long lines, poor signage and voting-equipment problems.

Flooding in parts of Florida and in the Four Corners states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah forced local officials to relocate some polling sites and resort to emergency ballots.

A ballot-scanner issue in Westchester County, N.Y., which includes part of the state’s competitive 17th Congressional District, took much of the day to sort out. Voters had to give their ballots to election workers for scanning at a later time.

NPR reported that some right-wing commentators online claimed the issue was a sign of fraud. Both the Republican and Democratic candidates running in the district told voters not to be deterred. Republican incumbent Mike Lawler wrote on X after news of the problem arose: “Every ballot will be counted.”

Ballot counting continued as advocates anticipated certification controversies

As ballot counting continued, voting-rights advocates were looking ahead to potential controversies over close races and the certification of results. Some election officials also warned about ballot seizures, especially after the FBI earlier this year seized election 2020 materials from Fulton County, Ga.

Separately, a judge tossed President Trump’s attempt to block Alaska Senate results if the Republican incumbent lost.

Shaylyn Cochran, deputy executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said during a Tuesday press call: “Election Day is the last day that you can cast your ballot. But election season continues after today, and we’re going to continue to remain vigilant.”