Americans are confused and worried about elections. Will that impact turnout?

• A 7-2 Supreme Court majority, including three Trump appointees, upheld lower court decisions to block Trump's scheme to use the United States Postal Service to stop millions of mail ballots in November. • Chief Justice John Marshall wrote that an independent judiciary has the power to declare "what the law is", a principle that underscores the importance of judicial independence in protecting constitutional democracy.

• US midterm elections occur halfway through a president's four-year term, with all 435 House seats and roughly one-third of Senate seats up for election. • The 2026 elections will contest all House seats and about one-third of Senate seats, determining which party controls Congress.

• The Supreme Court is allowing the Trump administration to use a revamped federal voter eligibility database for now, as part of President Donald Trump's efforts to crack down on noncitizen voting. • A federal judge had previously blocked the use of the database, known as SAVE, citing concerns that it violates voter privacy and can lead to wrongful voter purges.

• Donald Trump has been taking a forceful approach to presidential power, aiming to achieve major wins for his agenda, but polls indicate voters are largely unhappy with his performance. • The Supreme Court struck down some of Trump's sweeping tariffs in February, and a federal judge recently ruled that his administration must provide 30 days' notice before making changes to the Kennedy Center.

• House Democrats are preparing a vast oversight agenda if they gain control in the November elections, targeting issues of systemic corruption in the government. • Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland in line to become the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, describes the issues as "gargantuan" and emphasizes the need to address corruption that has cost the public huge amounts of money.

• President Donald Trump alleged Chinese interference in the 2020 election, but election law attorney Nicole Robinson questioned his claims. • Robinson argued on The Final 5 that Trump failed to show how voter data affected the election outcome.

• The US Supreme Court blocked Missouri from using a congressional map redrawn by Republicans to give their party an edge in the midterms, helping Democrats hold onto a seat in November. • The map, adopted by the Missouri State Legislature in September 2025, divided Kansas City into several districts to potentially unseat Representative Emanuel Cleaver, one of two Democrats in the state's congressional delegation.

• POLITICO is a transatlantic news organization focused on politics and policy, with journalists across major U.S. and European cities. • Its reporting explains who holds power, how it’s exercised, and its impact on governments, businesses, and societies, providing in-depth coverage through its subscription service POLITICO Pro.

• U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Catherine Cortez Masto reintroduced the Supreme Court Review Act to allow Congress to respond quickly to Supreme Court decisions. • The Act aims to restore the policymaking power of the legislative branch, as Americans' approval of the Supreme Court is nearing a historic low.

• The White House has reinstated press passes to journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico after a judge's ruling. • A judge ruled in favor of the journalists, prompting the White House to return their press passes, although the issue remains unresolved.

• The US Supreme Court has made several rulings on election processes this month, including a decision on September 14 to limit proposed federal changes to mail-in voting. • The court's rulings have included allowing the use of a federal database to check voter eligibility and weighing in on Missouri's redistricted voting map, which was on the emergency docket for the third time this month.