Trump Administration Launches Legal Challenges Against State Election Processes

The administration of Donald Trump is escalating legal and criminal challenges against state-administered election processes as the midterm campaign for control of Congress enters its final weekend. The United States Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation in Alaska to determine if aides to Democratic Senate challenger Mary Peltola recruited a retired teacher with a name similar to Republican incumbent Senator Dan S. Sullivan to confuse voters.

In California, the administration is pursuing a bid to set aside mail-in ballots from over 20,000 registered voters alleged to be noncitizens. Following a federal appeals court rejection of this effort, officials indicated the matter would likely move to the Supreme Court. Additionally, the federal government has sued approximately 30 states and the District of Columbia for unredacted voter rolls and demanded that Washington state isolate ballots from 400 alleged noncitizens.

State and local officials are preparing for potential federal interference. California Governor Gavin Newsom warned that the Justice Department might attempt to seize ballots to interfere with the count, while a federal judge recently ordered the department to stop threatening the prosecution of California election officials. In Georgia, the Justice Department plans to send monitors to six Democratic-stronghold counties. Despite these pressures, election officials in Georgia, Arizona, and New Hampshire have expressed confidence in the decentralized voting system and pledged to resist outside pressure.