Hundreds of Lawyers Deploy to Shield US Midterms From Meddling as Brazil Braces for High-Stakes Election
A wave of legal mobilization is underway to protect US midterm elections from interference, while Brazil's presidential vote tests the global reach of a Trump-aligned movement.
Hundreds of attorneys are fanning out across the United States to monitor polling sites and respond to disputes ahead of next month's midterm elections, even as Brazil prepares for a presidential runoff that has drawn scrutiny over foreign interference and the political power of megachurches and tech companies.
In the US, legal teams are being deployed to work with election integrity groups, reflecting growing concerns over attempts to disrupt voting [268219]. The effort comes as voters in several states prepare to decide directly on ballot measures concerning transgender rights and Medicaid, offering clues about where Americans stand on contentious health issues [266447]. Two major social issues — transgender students' participation on school sports teams and access to abortion — are set to go before voters, with the country about to find out how people feel about them [267740].
Meanwhile, Brazil's election on Sunday will determine whether bolsonarism returns to power, a movement shaped by tech companies, megachurches, and Donald Trump's ambitions in the Americas [268145]. The Trump administration's actions toward Brazil — including sanctions, tariffs, and a disputed donation — have raised questions about whether the United States is interfering in the vote, though the administration has not addressed these concerns directly [267940]. The contest has even drawn in religious symbolism, with a dispute over whether the Black Madonna of Aparecida could lose her status as Brazil's national saint if Flávio Bolsonaro, an evangelical Christian who opposes the veneration of saints, wins [266922].
Back in the US, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case about the use of race in middle school admissions, challenging how a public school in Boston, Massachusetts, selects its students [266270]. And thirty days before the midterms, President Trump traveled to Ohio, a key battleground state, where five Republicans explained whether his time in the White House has changed how they see the Republican Party [267234].