Election

Newsweek -   Donald Trump’s Department of Justice has been ordered to stop threatening to prosecute or launch investigations into election workers—following weeks of aggressive tactics intended to root out ineligible voters that the court said were likely “interfering with the lawful administration” of the 2026 midterms.

On Friday, a federal judge issued the temporary restraining order after a number of labor groups brought forward a lawsuit against the DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). As summarized in the court order, the agencies' officials were accused of engaging in a campaign to “intimidate, threaten, and coerce state and local officials and employees who are engaged in administering the ongoing midterm 2026 election.”

The Guardian -  Donald Trump is waging a brazen effort to interfere with voting in this year’s midterm elections, escalating concerns that the federal government will try to slow down certification of election results – a strategy that could create chaos when the new Congress is seated next year.

Experts are certain the administration’s efforts to subvert America’s elections will not work. And some have bemoaned “fearmongering” about far-fetched scenarios that are unlikely to go anywhere in court.

But after the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, voting lawyers and other democracy groups aren’t dismissing the possibility of anything.

The potential for interference is related to how close the contest winds up being, said Ned Foley, a professor at the Ohio State University and an expert on disputed elections.

“The more it looks like a blowout or a ‘blue tsunami’, the harder it’s going to be for any attempt to make mischief to get any traction,” he said.

“I put the probability of these impactful nightmare scenarios materializing at under 50%, so I’m not expecting them to make a difference,” he added. But, he said there are “risks of weird things happening, and you need to pay attention to them even if the risk is rather low”.

The Trump administration’s efforts to interfere began last year with an effort to collect detailed voter roll information from nearly every state. And it has continued into the final days of the election, in which the government has sought to sequester ballots in California and filed a legally thin lawsuit to try to stop the certification of election results in Alaska, where there is a hotly contested US Senate race.

The US constitution gives the states, not the federal government, authority to run elections. And it gives the president no power when it comes to voting. 

Press Herald -  At a crucial moment for U.S.-Israeli relations, a major pro-Israel lobbying group has dropped millions on Maine's U.S. Senate race, according to campaign finance data - throwing its support behind Sen. Susan Collins' reelection bid.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, is a group that endorses and puts money behind pro-Israel candidates. It is far and away the largest donor to Collins' campaign and leadership PAC this year, Federal Election Commission data shows.

The group has contributed about $2.8 million so far - more than her next 20 top donors combined, according to data compiled by OpenSecrets, a nonprofit campaign finance tracking organization.

The Guardian -  A federal judge issued a sweeping order last night barring the Trump administration from threatening or intimidating election officials in the days leading up to the midterm elections. The eight-page ruling prohibits any action that could “threaten, intimidate or coerce state or local election officials or workers” into halting the processing of ballots from registered voters the administration believes are ineligible to vote.

In her decision, U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson wrote that the administration’s efforts “are likely to have the effect of interfering with election administration and disenfranchising lawful voters.”

The order extends through Nov. 16, nearly two weeks after Election Day. It follows efforts to require states including California and Washington to segregate ballots the administration says may have been cast by noncitizens.

Axios - Pro tip: Don't stay up for the Senate results in either Maine or Alaska.

• Even a clear win (or defeat) for Collins may not be obvious until Wednesday. In 2020, when she won by nearly 9 points, the AP didn't call the race until lunchtime Wednesday.
• Alaska, with its ranked-choice voting, could take weeks