With Election Day just days away, Democrats are mobilizing to counter what they describe as a coordinated effort by the Trump administration to undermine the integrity of the midterm elections. The Justice Department has filed a preemptive lawsuit in Alaska that could delay or block certification of the Senate race if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses, arguing that a victory for Democrat Mary Peltola might be tainted by voter confusion with third-party candidate Dan J. Sullivan, who shares a similar name.
President Trump has also signaled his focus on Minnesota, posting on TruthSocial that his administration is “watching closely” for voter fraud in the state’s Senate contest between Republican Michele Tafoya and Democrat Peggy Flanagan. The state has emerged as a potential pickup opportunity for the GOP, with recent polls showing a narrow lead for Flanagan.
The administration has taken aim at other states as well. A federal appeals court on Monday blocked a Justice Department attempt to force California election officials to set aside 20,000 ballots the department claimed were cast by non-citizens. In Washington State, the DOJ has asked the secretary of state to review a list of over 400 registered voters it suspects may not be citizens.
When asked Tuesday whether he would accept the election results, Trump said he would “if they’re honest elections,” a statement that has heightened concerns among Democrats that the administration may challenge outcomes if the GOP performs well.
Former Attorney General Eric Holder criticized the administration’s actions, telling CNN that “they’re just throwing all of this stuff out there in an attempt to discourage people from believing in the system and trying to discourage people from coming out and registering them to vote, and then actually voting themselves.” He added that “any of these things that they are doing could have been easily done after the election, consistent with the way in which the Justice Department normally operates.”
Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) accused Trump of “blatantly laying the groundwork to steal an election,” writing on X that “Minnesota will not take kindly to thinly veiled threats from a guy we’ve rejected three times (soon to be four).”
The Democratic National Committee announced it is prepared to respond. DNC spokesman Angelo Fernández Hernández said the party has “grown our voter protection program, with staff based in more than 35 states to train and support election observers all across the country. The DNC’s first-ever in-house litigation team is working tirelessly to defeat attacks on our voting rights as Republicans attempt to make it harder for voters to cast their ballots and hold them accountable for their cost-raising, billionaires-first agenda.”
Rachel Jacobs, a senior partner at the Democratic-aligned Elias Law Group, told The Hill that the firm is ready to respond to any post-election actions. “If and when the election deniers in the Trump administration try similar or new tactics this fall, we will be ready to fight back and ensure that the results are certified according to the will of the voters,” she said, referencing the 2020 attempts to overturn the presidential result.
Minnesota’s Senate race has shifted in recent forecasts, with the nonpartisan Cook Political Report moving it from “likely Democrat” to “lean Democrat.” Alaska’s race remains a toss-up, with incumbent Sullivan facing Peltola under the state’s ranked-choice voting system.
The administration’s actions in California and Washington, both deep-blue states, have drawn particular scrutiny. On Tuesday, as California voters were returning mail-in ballots, U.S. District Judge David Carter was preparing to hear the case after the appeals court blocked the DOJ’s initial request. White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis vowed that anyone who illegally voted “will be held accountable,” while a Justice Department spokesperson defended the actions, saying, “Enforcing election law right before an election is exactly when it matters most and voters deserve to know their elections are being protected.”
Democrats, however, see these moves as part of a broader pattern of election interference. The DNC’s litigation team and allied groups are on high alert, preparing for a wave of legal challenges that could delay certification in key states. As the midterm election night approaches, the battle over the integrity of the vote is likely to intensify, with both sides bracing for a protracted legal fight.
