People walk by a polling place at Denver's Central Library on June 30, 2026. Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images hide caption
October 21, 2026 • The department has long deployed election monitors, but the Trump administration's unprecedented steps to try to wrestle control over elections have led to new concerns about DOJ monitoring this year.
People vote at a polling location at the Metro Headquarters Building in Los Angeles during California's state primary election on June 2, 2026. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
October 20, 2026 • Election officials in Los Angeles County say their preliminary analysis of the federal government's list of 20,000 "likely" noncitizens registered to vote in California shows the list is "unreliable."
People vote in Norwalk, Calif., during early voting in California's primary election on June 1, 2026. The Department of Justice has charged 28 green card holders in the state for allegedly illegally registering to vote or voting in U.S. elections, in an escalation of a feud with California officials over the state's voting system. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
October 19, 2026 • The DOJ also filed an emergency request in federal court to stop California from processing ballots returned by people on the voter rolls the federal government says are "likely noncitizens."
Election workers process ballots for the California state primary at the Los Angeles County Ballot Processing Center on June 5. California's relatively slow vote count has put "a big target on its back," one expert told NPR. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption
October 19, 2026 • Hint: It's not only because California counts slowly.
A voting center is seen in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Oct. 7, the first day of early voting. Olivier Touron/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
October 14, 2026 • For many election cycles, civil rights groups and political parties have fanned out to monitor polling places, but the charged midterm environment has many organizations stepping up efforts this year.
Alabama voters Evan Milligan (left) Sheyann Christburg-Webb and Tyler Adams meet at the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Ala. Charity Rachelle for NPR hide caption
October 9, 2026 • In Alabama, the push that led to Voting Rights Act of 1965 intersects with the recent weakening of the statute and redistricting. Three generations of activists reflect on what it means for midterms.
A Wake County Board of Elections employee prepares a mail-in ballot to be sent out to a voter in September in Raleigh, N.C. Matt Ramey/AP hide caption
October 9, 2026 • If you're using the U.S. Postal Service to return a ballot close to Election Day, officials recommend getting it postmarked at a post office to avoid getting caught up in mail processing changes.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., is seen on Capitol Hill on June 24, 2025. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images hide caption
October 8, 2026 • Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., is co-leading an effort to get colleagues to pledge they'll accept this fall's election results and oppose any effort to block the seating of fellow members next year.
U.S. citizens who are members of the group Democrats Abroad gather to drop off their ballots for the 2020 presidential election into a box provided by the U.S. embassy in Bangkok in 2020. Mladen Antonov/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
September 30, 2026 • The Pentagon made last-minute changes to forms that many overseas U.S. citizens use for absentee voting, removing a category of citizens that Republicans have been pushing to block from voting.
