The RecordExhibit 131
Not inviting international observers to the midterms, a first since 2002
Criticized means: Legal, or a policy choice, but widely condemned.
The administration did not invite the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe to observe the Nov. 3, 2026 midterm elections. The organization, which has observed every U.S. federal election since 2002, said on Sept. 23 that it had received no invitation.
What happened
The OSCE is a 57-member security body that includes the United States, and it observes elections only when the host government invites it. Its observers typically visit some polling stations and publish a report on how the election was run. They do not interfere and have no enforcement power, and each state decides whether they may enter polling places.
Its election office, known as ODIHR, has observed 12 federal elections here since 2002, six of them midterms. That includes the 2018 midterms during Trump's first term and the 2024 election, which it judged well run. The organization said these will be the first U.S. federal elections since it began observing in the country for which it has not been invited, and that a mission would have given an independent assessment of changes to election law and rules since the last federal vote.
MS NOW reported that Russia and Belarus are the only other members to have excluded OSCE observers. Separately, the Justice Department has announced plans to send its own monitors to polling places, about 1,000 of them according to Human Rights Watch, and Democrats and election experts have raised concerns about that plan.
Where it stands
ODIHR and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly called the decision regrettable and said it is not in line with commitments that all member states have made to invite observers to their elections. The assembly's president, Pere Joan Pons, called it a significant departure from an established democratic practice. Switzerland, which chairs the OSCE this year, also expressed regret. Human Rights Watch said the decision fuels fears of human rights problems around the elections, and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urged the administration to respect the role of independent observers.
Dan Baer, who was U.S. ambassador to the OSCE under President Obama, told MS NOW that refusing observers is usually something countries do from a position of weakness. No court is involved, and we found no report saying the decision breaks U.S. law. No invitation had been reported as of Oct. 6, 2026.
The administration's side
Asked by MS NOW why the United States did not invite observers this year, a State Department spokesperson said the OSCE should focus its limited resources on elections where it can have the greatest impact. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the news agency dpa. The administration has pressed the OSCE to cut its budget and has threatened to leave the organization unless it reforms.
Sources
Permanent link: https://unredactedrecord.com/e/osceobservers/