DEMOCRACY WATCH: Before the Votes Are Counted

Four election disputes now concern voter identification, federal investigations, ballot handling and certification of the November 3 midterm results.

By Walter Sundiata | On The Corner: Democracy Watch | October 24, 2026

Less than two weeks before the November 3 midterm elections, courts and election officials are addressing four separate disputes involving different stages of the voting process.

In New Hampshire, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed orders concerning the identification documents voters may present. In nine states, a federal judge restricted Department of Homeland Security election investigations involving people who may be U.S. citizens. In California, the Justice Department asked election offices to review selected voter records and segregate some ballots. In Alaska, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit addressing whether the state may certify a particular possible result in its U.S. Senate election.

The cases are legally separate. Each remains subject to continuing litigation.

New Hampshire: Student identification and voter guidance

On October 22, the Supreme Court stayed two federal district-court orders concerning New Hampshire’s voter-identification procedures.

The lower court had directed state officials to correct public guidance that excluded student identification from documents voters could present under the state’s identity-verification safety valve. The Supreme Court said federal courts ordinarily should not alter election rules close to an election and allowed the disputed state guidance to remain in place while the appeal proceeds.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented. She wrote that the lower court had not changed New Hampshire’s election law but had required officials to describe it accurately. The district court had found that the state’s public statements could mislead voters and local election workers about what identification the statute permits.

The Supreme Court’s emergency order does not finally decide how New Hampshire law should be interpreted. The underlying appeal remains before the First Circuit.

For the November 3 election, students who do not possess another accepted form of identification may face additional steps when voting.

Nine states: Federal election investigations restricted

On October 21, U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín issued a preliminary injunction restricting election-related Department of Homeland Security field operations in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin.

Through the close of polls on November 3, DHS may not rely solely upon its voter-matching results when conducting field operations involving people agents know, suspect or reasonably should suspect are U.S. citizens.

The order does not prohibit DHS from investigating suspected election crimes when it has an independent factual basis.

The judge reviewed evidence that DHS had combined state voter files, government information and commercial records to identify people for investigation. The record included evidence that investigators were assigned quotas and, during one phase of the operation, were expected to complete some reviews in approximately 12 minutes.

The court also considered declarations from organizations involved in voter registration and civic participation. Those organizations reported that federal field investigations and the prospect of immigration agents questioning residents about voting had discouraged some people from attending political events, registering voters or serving as election workers.

DHS says its purpose is to investigate unlawful registration and voting by noncitizens. The department says it does not intend to investigate people it has confirmed are citizens.

Ohio is not one of the nine states covered by the injunction.

California: More counties receive 48-hour demands

The Justice Department has expanded its California voter inquiry beyond Los Angeles County.

On October 23, federal prosecutors sent letters to election officials in at least 18 counties. The letters gave officials 48 hours to provide identifying records, verify the citizenship of selected registered voters and segregate returned ballots when citizenship could not be confirmed.

The requests included Social Security information, identification records and copies of voter-registration documents.

The federal government says more than 20,000 people on California’s voter rolls are likely noncitizens. It has asked a federal court to prevent officials from counting ballots connected with those records until citizenship is determined.

Los Angeles County found 7,035 records with county addresses and examined a sample of 200. According to the county’s court filing:

• 25.8 percent of the entire sample had a recorded U.S. birthplace.

• 71.2 percent had no recorded voting history.

• Approximately 43 percent were connected with canceled registrations.

• 4.6 percent were listed as inactive.

• 45 percent had been mailed ballots for the current election.

  
  

The county also reported duplicate entries and said the federal list did not provide a confidence rating or a person-specific explanation for each match.

The Justice Department has charged 28 lawful permanent residents with election- or immigration-related offenses and says all 28 appeared on the broader federal list. Some defendants are accused of voting illegally; others face allegations involving registration or statements made during the naturalization process. The charges have not been adjudicated.

Federal officials acknowledge that some source records may be incomplete, outdated or mismatched. They argue that California should independently verify each record rather than reject the list because it contains possible errors.

California officials say they already conduct voter-list maintenance and that the federal demands could delay election administration or affect eligible citizens. More than 330,000 mail ballots had been processed when the expanded county letters were reported.

The Justice Department asked the Ninth Circuit to intervene before the district judge ruled on its emergency request. The appeals court directed California to respond. Proceedings remain active.

Alaska: A certification dispute filed before Election Day

The Justice Department has also sued Alaska concerning its U.S. Senate election.

The candidates include Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan, Democrat Mary Peltola and another candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan. The federal complaint alleges that Daniel J. Sullivan structured his candidacy and ballot name to confuse voters intending to support the incumbent.

Alaska election officials initially attempted to exclude the second Sullivan from the ballot. Alaska’s courts subsequently permitted his candidacy.

The federal lawsuit asks the court to prevent certification if three conditions occur:

1. The incumbent senator loses.

2. The second Sullivan receives enough votes to affect the outcome.

3. An investigation determines that voters intended some of those votes for the incumbent.

   
   

The complaint does not ask the court to declare a winner now. No general-election result exists, and the conditions described in the lawsuit may never occur.

President Trump has said that he directed the federal action. The administration says the suit protects voters from candidate confusion. Alaska officials and other parties may contest whether DOJ has standing or federal authority to interfere with the state’s certification procedures.

The court has not ruled.

What has changed

The four disputes now affect different points in the election process:

• Voter access: New Hampshire’s disputed identification guidance remains in effect.

• Federal investigations: DHS operations based solely on its voter matches are restricted in nine states through Election Day.

• Ballot handling: At least 18 California counties have received federal requests to verify selected voters and segregate some ballots.

• Certification: DOJ has asked a federal court to address a possible Alaska Senate result before Election Day.

  
  

None of the pending cases has produced a final decision on the underlying legal claims.

What voters should know

Voters should follow the identification, registration and ballot instructions issued by their state and local election offices. Anyone who receives an eligibility notice or encounters a problem voting should retain the notice and promptly contact the relevant election office or a qualified nonpartisan voter-assistance organization.

Call to Action

5 Calls asks constituents to contact members of Congress and state officials and oppose federal efforts to obtain state voter records or direct election administration. It asks callers to support protections for voter information and state control over election processes.

That is 5 Calls’ advocacy position. The legal claims in New Hampshire, California and Alaska remain subject to continuing litigation. Review the 5 Calls election-interference action

Primary records and reporting

• Supreme Court order and Justice Jackson’s dissent in Scanlan v. Coalition for Open Democracy

• Los Angeles County’s opposition describing its review of the federal voter list

• Federal preliminary injunction restricting DHS election operations

• Justice Department complaint concerning Alaska’s Senate election

• Associated Press reporting on DOJ’s expanded California county demands

• Reuters reporting on the Alaska certification lawsuit

  
  

Working draft updated October 24, 2026. Court proceedings and emergency appeals remain active; verify their status immediately before publication.