“The Justice Department has moved to preemptively block certification of the results of Alaska’s Senate race if Republican incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan loses his tight race against Democrat Mary Peltola next month,” the Washington Post reports.

“In a lawsuit filed in federal court Thursday, department officials described the candidacy of a third contender in the race — another Republican named Dan J. Sullivan Jr. — as a bid to mislead supporters of Sen. Sullivan into voting for the wrong candidate.”

Washington Sun: Trump administration lays out path to challenge Alaska’s Senate results.

“Data from this fall’s early balloting and interviews with officials and voters suggests Americans, particularly Democrats, are moving away from mailing ballots and toward in-person voting and drop boxes, following President Donald Trump’s relentless attack on voting by mail,” the Washington Post reports.

“Requests for mail ballots are down compared with the last midterm election in six of eight states analyzed by Michael McDonald, a University of Florida professor who is the leading authority on early voting data. In Georgia, he found, requests for mail ballots are down 40 percent, while in-person early voting is ‘through the roof.'”

“Hundreds of U.S. lawyers have agreed to work for free on efforts to monitor next month’s midterm elections in what voting rights groups say is the biggest effort of its kind to prevent meddling at the polls,” the Financial Times reports.

“The attorneys are volunteering for non-profit groups that specialise in election integrity, with work that ranges from answering voters’ questions on election hotlines to preparing to sue the government over any alleged interference, including if immigration enforcement agents are sent to voting sites.”

Wired: “A review has identified a slate of GOP attorney general candidates in more than half a dozen states, including key swing states, who have repeatedly expressed their belief that the 2020 election was stolen.”

“If elected, several have said, they are willing to relitigate 2020 once again—and all will potentially play a key role in the 2028 presidential election.”

“Top Democrats and allied organizations filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against President Donald Trump and his administration over their attempts to stymie the midterm elections, including by removing voters from state rolls,” MS NOW reports.

“The top Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees say they are operating under the presumption that President Trump and his allies will allege fraud related to this year’s midterms in order to justify election interference,” NPR reports.

Said Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT): “We start with the premise that the president is going to do that. It would be irresponsible not to, speaking as somebody who was in the chamber on January 6, 2021. We’re making the assumption that the president is not going to accept the results of what looks to be a very challenging election for him and his party.”

“The Republican state official in charge of Georgia’s elections rebutted false claims by President Donald Trump that sought to cast doubt on the integrity of vote-counting in the state with early voting already underway in the midterm elections,” Bloomberg reports.

“Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told Bloomberg Television that he expects the state’s election results by midnight on Election Day, calling the process ‘free, fair and fast.'”

Said Raffensperger: “We are very confident that at the end of the day you can trust the results.”

CNN: “Republican lawmakers and officials around the country have taken steps at the state and local level to make it harder to vote this November, from enacting stricter registration requirements to adding ID restrictions to dramatically reducing early voting sites, polling places and ballot drop-boxes.”

“These changes, pushed through state Capitols and county boards of election, have not received the same attention as President Donald Trump’s dramatic attempts to curb mail voting and assert control over voting rolls, but they could have just as significant an impact on turnout in key races to control Congress.”

“The Department of Justice on Thursday sued the top election officials in California and Los Angeles County, claiming they were planning to count ballots from more than 20,000 alleged noncitizens in next month’s midterm elections,” the Washington Post reports.