What’s behind the US decision not to invite OSCE election observers

Voting in primary elections in New York, June 23, 2026. Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Ahead of its mid-term elections, the US has done something more typically associated with Russia: it has not invited any observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)

The non-invitation for November’s mid-term votes is the first in 25 years: since 2002, OSCE election observers have been present at 12 federal elections in the US, including six mid-terms. On November 3, therefore, the first US federal election since the OSCE began observing in the country will take place for which it has not received an invite.

ODIHR and OSCE Parliamentary Assembly regret the absence of invitation to observe U.S. mid-term elections.

Read the full press release: https://t.co/TUgmTqfrnWExternal link pic.twitter.com/weYvizzZ6lExternal link

— OSCE/ODIHR (@osce_odihr) September 23, 2026External link

The failure to issue such an invitation is “regrettable, particularly given the long-standing co-operation with the country in the field of election observation”, the OSCE wrote in a statementExternal link. It added that observation would have provided “a valuable independent analysis of developments in the legal and regulatory framework”.

Pere Joan Pons, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, said the US decision represents “a significant departure from established democratic practice”.

Switzerland also regrets the lack of an invitation

Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, who currently holds the role of OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, has not yet commented on the matter. However, it is understood that Switzerland had called on US authorities in bilateral discussions to allow the OSCE election observation mission to proceed as usual.

In a statement, Nicolas Bideau, the head of communications at the Swiss foreign ministry, expressed the regret of the Swiss OSCE Chairmanship at the failure by the US to issue an invite.

“Support for election observation missions is a priority for the Swiss OSCE Chairmanship,” Bideau wrote, adding “it would be regrettable if the United States were not to invite the ODIHR [Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights] to observe the forthcoming elections”.

According to Fredy Gsteiger, the diplomatic correspondent at Swiss public broadcaster SRF, the failure to issue an invitation comes as no surprise. “Behind the scenes, the US spent months trying to persuade the OSCE to withdraw its report on the 2020 elections, when Joe Biden was elected president,” he says.

“Donald Trump still claims to this day that Biden was not elected at all. However, the OSCE came to the clear conclusion that the election was conducted correctly – and that does not sit well with Trump and his supporters,” adds Gsteiger.

For the time being, there has been no explanation from the US for the non-invitation – neither from Washington nor from the US embassy to the OSCE in Vienna. “The embassy’s website still says the US is committed to the OSCE. After much hesitation, they have now also re-accredited an ambassador there,” says Gsteiger.

Although the US has been putting financial pressure on the OSCE for some time, it has continued to cooperate with the organisation even under President Trump.

According to Gsteiger, it is not implausible to think that the Trump administration wants to use the exclusion of OSCE observers to clear the way for actually manipulating the election results.

“If the Republicans lose, they could also claim that the elections were not conducted properly,” says Gsteiger – something which would be much more difficult if the OSCE confirmed the election had been conducted fairly.

“After all, OSCE election observation is regarded as the gold standard,” says Gsteiger. “Not least, the vast majority of the media rely on its reports.”

Long experience, high regard

The OSCE sees itself as a platform bringing together East and West to resolve conflicts and defend democracy and human rights. As part of its mission, the organisation has developed experience observing elections and in conflict zones. Decisions on OSCE missions need the approval of all 57 member statesExternal link.

According to Gsteiger, other bodies or organisations can also carry out election observation missions: for example, political parties themselves, university institutes or NGOs. “But no one has as much experience or enjoys such high standing in this field as the OSCE,” he says.

Up to now, it has tended to be other countries that have refused to admit OSCE observers – and not democratic ones, explains Gsteiger. For instance, Russia excluded OSCE observers for the third time ahead of and during the Duma elections last weekend.

Belarus also recently kept the OSCE waiting a long time and only sent an invitation at the last moment. “That came too late for the OSCE – too late to prepare professionally for the observation and, above all, too late to monitor the election campaign,” says the SRF correspondent.

Translated from German, sub-edited by Domhnall O’Sullivan/sb