Election Day arrives Tuesday following a surge in early voting, with observers closely watching polls amid lingering concerns about election integrity. Millions of Americans have already cast ballots, with early voting turnout on pace to surpass that of the last midterm elections.
President Donald Trump has spent months attempting to influence the outcomes of the elections, which will determine control of Congress. His administration has been involved in efforts to identify and prosecute noncitizen voters, including a predawn operation in California that led to more than two dozen arrests. The Department of Justice planned its largest-ever effort to monitor Election Day polling places, while also facing opposition from Democrats and allied groups who feared the presence of immigration agents at voting sites or federal officers seizing voting machines.
Despite these concerns, voting so far has proceeded with relatively few problems. The administration's legal maneuvers have largely been blocked by the courts. On Monday night, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a key administration push to force California to set aside thousands of ballots in its search for noncitizen voters. This ruling followed a previous Supreme Court decision that rejected an attempt to limit mail balloting through changes at the Postal Service. These efforts were part of executive orders Trump signed that aimed to federalize certain aspects of elections, despite the Constitution granting states authority over election rules.
Research and state investigations have consistently shown that instances of noncitizens casting ballots are extremely rare, a fact underscored by the administration's own record of arrests and charges. Election law experts have noted that Trump's lawsuits exceed historic norms, though they consider the administration's legal arguments unlikely to succeed in court.
In the lead-up to Tuesday, election officials and voting rights advocates advised voters casting late absentee ballots to use drop boxes or deliver them in person due to concerns about delays in U.S. Postal Service operations potentially affecting ballot counts. Similar concerns about mail ballot rejections due to postmarking delays disenfranchised thousands of voters in the primaries.
The most significant disruptions ahead of Election Day have been the Trump administration's attempts to interfere, leading to a flurry of legal filings over alleged noncitizen voters, federal election monitors, and intimidation of election officials. These court battles could extend past Election Day into the ballot counting and certification processes.
Trump himself has continued to express skepticism about the legitimacy of the election, stating a week before Election Day that he would only accept the results "if they are honest."