by Amanda Head
Who threatens democracy? Both parties claim the high ground, but shenanigans from both sides of the aisle, from opposition research to intentionally confusing names on ballots, Democrats and Republicans alike argue that a lot is at stake in these midterms.
With the midterm elections days away, the Justice Department is preparing what officials call the largest DOJ election observer effort in history. It caps an 18-month campaign by the Trump administration to put citizenship verification and ballot security at the center of how Americans vote.
The push has spanned executive orders, a revamped federal database, grant conditions and legislation. Officials say all of it aims at one goal: making sure only eligible citizens vote. Courts have hamstrung — or thwarted, depending on your point of view -- several of the measures, but others are already shaping how some states run their elections.
DOJ Election Monitors
The most visible pieces arrive on Election Day. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon announced in August that the Justice Department plans to send about 1,000 election monitors across the country in November.
That is up sharply from roughly 289 in 2022 and 714 in 2024. Attorney General Todd Blanche has said the number could top 1,000, with monitors in every state.
Dhillon has said the Department of Justice has no plans to interfere with the process and that jurisdictions led by both parties have largely cooperated. Critics point out that monitors have historically focused on voting-rights violations, while this year's emphasis is election security.
The department has said FBI and ICE employees will not serve as monitors.
Election Conditions on FEMA Grants
Earlier in the summer, the administration used federal grants to encourage states to adopt federally laid-out priorities.
In June, FEMA tied more than $1 billion in Homeland Security grants were directed towards election measures such as hand-marked paper ballots, 5% post-election audits and elements in the not-yet-passed SAVE citizenship checks of registered voters. Twenty percent of each award would be held back until a state complied. The agency said the requirements would preserve election integrity.
On September 28, Federal District Court Judge Amir Ali of the District of Columbia ruled that Congress had not authorized the conditions and vacated them along with the holdback. The ruling addressed only the grant conditions, not the reforms themselves, so states remain free to adopt them on their own. The DOJ appealed the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
The administration continues to seek a stay pending appeal at the circuit level, arguing that FEMA maintains broad discretion over the Homeland Security Grant Program. However, Judge Ali's injunction blocking the rule remains fully in effect while the D.C. Circuit considers the matter.
The March 2026 Executive Order also enjoined
The administration's most ambitious move on voting by mail came on March 31, when Trump signed a second election order. It directs DHS and the Social Security Administration to give states lists of citizens eligible to vote, and tasks the Postal Service with writing rules for mail ballots.
Under those rules, states would submit lists of mail voters and use ballot envelopes approved by the Postal Service.
The Postal Service finalized its rule in late August. However, a September 4 injunction blocks its mandatory sections through the November 3 election.
The rule remains in place for later elections while the First Circuit weighs the case. The Supreme Court declined to lift the injunction.
The Push for the SAVE America Act
In Congress, the administration has championed the SAVE America Act, which would require photo ID to vote and proof of citizenship to register. The House passed the bill on February 11, 2026. Trump made it his top legislative priority and pressed Senate Republicans to scrap the filibuster to pass it.
The bill has stalled in the Senate. In April, an effort to attach it to the reconciliation package fell short, 48-50, with several Republicans voting no.
Supporters say it will keep noncitizens from voting, while opponents argue it would restrict how Americans register and vote.
DOJ Demands for State Voter Rolls
The Justice Department has also tried to check state voter rolls directly. It asked nearly every state for complete, unredacted voter lists, including Social Security numbers and birth dates. Eighteen states, mostly Republican-led, agreed, and the department checked their data against the tenets of the SAVE Act.
DOJ sued the 30 states and D.C. that declined, but 27 of those cases have been dismissed. On October 9, a federal court ruled that the policy exceeded the department's authority and violated the Privacy Act, and vacated it nationwide.
DOJ says it is reviewing that ruling.
Overhauling the SAVE Database
The administration's most overarching achievement may be its overhaul of the SAVE citizenship database. The March 2025 order directed DHS and the Social Security Administration to build a system for verifying the citizenship of both new registrants and existing voters. The upgraded SAVE lets election officials check voters in bulk.
A judge found in June that the system violated privacy laws. On September 25, the Supreme Court sided 6-3 with the administration and put that ruling on hold. States decide whether to use SAVE, and federal law bars systematic purges within 90 days of an election. Some states are already using it. Utah sent federal-only ballots to more than 4,000 flagged voters who didn't respond to notices, and about 47,000 Arizona voters are classified as federal-only.
It all began with Trump's executive order of March 25, 2025, which sought to require proof of citizenship to vote, mandate paper ballots and count only mail ballots arriving by Election Day. In October 2025, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled the citizenship directive unconstitutional and permanently barred it from being added to the federal registration form.
The high court, reversing Kollar-Kotelly's decision, said that the district court's decision blocking use of the expanded database, including for individualized inquiries, "inhibits the Federal Government's efforts to assist state and local agencies in the proper administration of the midterm elections."
In January, she permanently blocked two more citizenship provisions, saying in part that agencies will not be allowed to "assess citizenship" before providing a federal voter registration form to people enrolling in public assistance programs.
Separate lawsuits by Democratic attorneys general and by Oregon and Washington have blocked other parts. The White House says it expects to prevail in the end.
Amanda Head is White House Correspondent for Just the News. You can follow her here.
Source: https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/election-integrity-efforts-trump-admin-purify-midterms-poll-watchers
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