The mid-term congressional elections were competitive and professionally managed, with active voter participation, but also with threats against election workers and efforts to undermine voters’ trust in the electoral process by baselessly questioning its integrity. OSCE/ODIHR said in a statement released today.

Candidates could campaign freely, but many contests were highly polarized and marred by harsh rhetoric, and partisan redistricting resulted in many instances of uncompetitive constituencies, the statement says.

The economy, inflation and abortion rights were prominent issues across the country. Political campaigns by both major parties were intensely divisive, and the inflammatory rhetoric was accompanied by racist and transphobic tropes invoked by some candidates and prominent commentators. A number of Republican candidates in key races, including those who, if elected as secretaries of state, will have direct responsibility for overseeing future elections in their states, challenged or refused to accept the legitimacy of the 2020 results.

Disclosure mechanisms for campaign finance are generally comprehensive, but loopholes in the regulatory framework make the impact of money in politics less transparent, the observers said.

“As a robust and well-established democracy, it is crucial that the United States continues to demonstrate its commitment to improving its electoral system by increasing the franchise, enhancing election security, and countering misinformation,” said Pere Joan Pons, Head of the Delegation from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. “The challenges to democracy that the U.S. faces are common to many OSCE countries, and we must all work together to ensure that the citizens have trust in their democratic processes.”

While citing the concerns over harassment, threats and instances of violence, the observers noted that Congress allocated funds for election security, including to counter threats against election administrators, and a joint taskforce of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation was created to gather information on threats and to address these at the federal level.

While many outlets in the diverse – but polarized – media landscape made efforts to present accurate information, widespread disinformation by others affected voters’ ability to inform themselves.