Politics

Trump Promises to Respect Midterm Results If They Are ‘Honest’

By Umar Farooq

President Donald Trump said he would respect the results of next week’s midterm elections if they were “honest,” as his administration expanded legal challenges to Democrat‑led states over election integrity. Trump made the remark on Tuesday after reporters asked whether he would accept the outcome even if his party lost control of Congress.

The comments came a day after the Department of Justice (DOJ) threatened Washington with legal action if it did not remove about 400 people it claims are not U.S. citizens from its voter registration rolls. Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said the DOJ’s request, which gave the state until Wednesday noon local time to respond or face “emergency relief,” was intended to cast unfounded suspicion on the results. Hobbs’s office was reviewing the list and had already found some entries based on outdated information, such as a 1994 record. He stated that Washington elections are secure and that cases of voter fraud, including non‑citizen voting, are extremely rare.

Last month, Washington successfully argued in court that it was not required to turn over its entire voter list to the DOJ. The state is among dozens of Democrat‑led states that have faced similar demands and have had courts side with them.

Despite these setbacks, the DOJ has continued to raise doubts about the November 3 elections, alleging large numbers of non‑citizens are voting in Democratic‑led states—a claim repeatedly dismissed by bipartisan voting‑rights groups. Last week the DOJ filed a lawsuit against Alaska, seeking to block certification of its Senate election if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan did not win. The DOJ said the state was allowing another candidate named Dan Sullivan to appear on the ballot, thereby failing to run the election fairly. Trump said he had personally instructed the DOJ to file the lawsuit.

California also received a DOJ letter this month demanding the state review a list of about 20,000 non‑citizen voters. California officials said many on the list were actually born in the U.S. and therefore eligible to vote.

The DOJ plans to deploy a record number of election observers across the country on Election Day, despite objections from local officials in several Democrat‑led states, including New Jersey and California. Historically, the DOJ has sent observers to places with a history of civil‑rights violations and barriers that could disenfranchise minorities or other voters.