“Stranger things have happened… I’ll leave it at that.” (Trump was responding to a proposal that he use emergency powers to impose voter ID, citizenship-documentation, and mail-ballot restrictions.)
“But I’m not going to help her (Ohio).” (Trump said Republican officials could obtain federal help more easily and indicated he would be less accommodating if Democrats won.)
This is just since Trump’s October 3 speech in Vandalia, near Dayton.
We have seen Trump routinely violate election laws since his 2020 loss and had faced 12 felony counts for violating Georgia’s RICO laws while trying to rig the elections there. His rhetoric has only increased since then and leading up to the 2026 midterms.
He repeatedly has threatened to send ICE agents to guard the voting, and perhaps even seize the ballots after the voting.
This Year, Poll Observers Matter
The Ohio Democratic Party has always sponsored and organized Democratic Party poll observers, but no year has this been more important than this one.
The party will hold a series of online training sessions throughout the month of October; you can sign up through their Mobilize link:
This training takes an hour, after which the ODP will submit your name to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections and you will receive credentials to observe a polling station.
You will be asked to serve a six-hour shift.
The Solon Democratic Party is joining with Chagrin Gateway Democrats and Bedford Democrats to train jointly at the Solon Combined Campaign Office on October 24.
This request is not/not the same as working for a candidate or issue outside of the polling site, though we need those volunteers too.
We are hoping other nongovernmental organizations also will send trained poll observers.
Election Observation Is Part of Democracy
Poll observation by domestic and international organizations is a recognized component of democratic elections under the 1990 Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Copenhagen Document, which states that observers can enhance the electoral process.
The United States has been participating in OSCE Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) elections observation missions since that time, and always notes the accessibility and presence of domestic and international observers.
This was a central part of my task as head of the ODIHR parliamentary elections observation mission to Mongolia in 2024.
For the First Time Since 1990
This year, for the first time since 1990, the United States refused to invite an observation mission for our midterm elections.
In terms of OSCE membership, we join just Belarus and Russia in refusing to invite an observation mission.
According to ODIHR:
“The decision not to invite the OSCE to observe the 2026 mid-term congressional elections in the United States is regrettable, particularly given the long-standing co-operation with the country in the field of election observation, leaders of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA).
The decision is not in line with the commitments undertaken by all OSCE participating States under the 1990 Copenhagen Document, which recognizes that the presence of international observers can enhance the electoral process, and commits all participating States to invite observers…”
The Trump Administration clearly does not want the eyes of the world watching his attempts to subvert, and eventually overturn, our midterm elections, if he does not like the results; and he will not like them.
I will let others describe how Trump brought this upon himself and how Republican candidates Jon Husted and Vivek Ramaswamy are complicit in election fraud by making the pilgrimage to Vandalia to kiss his ring.
What You Can Do
My goal is to show you what you can do to bear witness and stop the steal.
Ambassador (retired) Jennifer Brush is a 30-year national and international diplomat with specialties in nuclear non-proliferation, the Balkans, Central Asia and Mongolia. She was born in Solon, where she currently resides, and is President of the Solon Democratic Club. In 2024, she led an ODIHR Elections Observation Mission to Mongolia.
