[Trump's Justice Department Breaks Decades of Practice, Intervenes in Midterm Elections Early] Odaily reports that the Justice Department under US President Donald Trump is intervening in Tuesday's midterm elections in an unprecedented manner, directly intervening in election disputes through lawsuits and criminal investigations before ballots are counted and results are certified. This practice breaks with decades of Justice Department practice of avoiding being seen as using law enforcement power to help a particular party or candidate, raising concerns that the government may use this to influence election results. In California, the Justice Department asked the court to exclude approximately 20,000 mail-in ballots, arguing that these voters may not be US citizens and therefore ineligible to vote. The Justice Department also requested the state government to provide relevant records to cooperate with a criminal investigation. California stated that it has taken measures to prevent non-citizens from voting and believes the Justice Department has no right to prevent these ballots from being counted. So far, the courts have dismissed the Justice Department's lawsuits against California and Alaska, but the Justice Department has appealed the ruling in the Alaska case. These cases highlight the Justice Department's willingness to intervene in election disputes before ballot counting and results certification.