Skip to the story
All StoriesPoliticsConflict & SecurityBusiness & EconomyScience & TechHealthClimateMedia
All stories
Politics55 outlets ran this3 min read

OSCE monitors not invited to US elections for first time since 2002

European security body calls decision a "significant departure from an established democratic practice."

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published Updated
A clerk hands a ballot to a voter on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

What this story says

  • The OSCE has not been invited to observe the US midterm elections in November 2026.
  • This is the first time the OSCE has been excluded from observing US federal elections since 2002.
  • The OSCE has observed 12 federal elections in the US since 2002, including six midterms.
  • The OSCE president called the decision a "significant departure from an established democratic practice."

Who covered it

Left 44%(14)Centre 25%(8)Right 31%(10)

Percentages are shares of the 32 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 23 of the 55 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

86/100

Craft

87/100

Hype

15/100

55 sources · methodology

Missing from the right

Only 10 of the 32 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.

A reader who follows the right would not have seen this. We report the absence rather than explain it: outlets choose what to cover for many reasons, and we have no evidence about which one applies here.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) announced on Wednesday that its observers have not been invited to the United States midterm elections scheduled for November 2026. This marks the first instance of the OSCE being excluded from monitoring US federal elections since 2002. The organisation stated that this decision is "not in line with the commitments undertaken by all OSCE participating states."

Since 2002, the OSCE has observed a total of 12 federal elections in the United States, which included six midterm elections. Pere Joan Pons, president of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, described the exclusion as a “significant departure from an established democratic practice” and stated, “I deeply regret the decision.” The OSCE is a Vienna-based organisation founded in 1975, with 57 member states from Europe, central Asia, and North America, focused on security, political, economic, and environmental cooperation, as well as election observation.

Disagreement on election year

The OSCE announced its observers have not been invited to the US midterm elections in November 2026, according to CTV News. However, svt Nyheter reported that the US has decided not to invite the OSCE to monitor the 2026 congressional elections, and Hospodárske Noviny stated the OSCE observers were not invited to the November US congressional elections, also referred to as the midterm elections.

What the coverage left out

None of the left, centre, or right-rated reports mention the claim made by CTV News that the US President Donald Trump's administration had been critical of how the OSCE handles its mission and had urged the OSCE to downsize its budget.

Tags:#USElections#OSCE#Democracy#InternationalRelations

Coverage settled. We checked this 10 times and stopped on 29 Sept 2026, 02:15. The figures above are what it finished at.

How other outlets pictured it

Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.

OSCE monitors not invited to US elections for first time since 2002
svt NyheterLeft

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

14 rated outlets

  • The left-rated reports led on the fact that the OSCE has not been invited to the US midterm elections, a first since 2002. They highlighted the OSCE's statement that this decision represents a "significant departure from an established democratic practice" and is "not in line with the commitments undertaken by all OSCE participating states." Svt Nyheter included a quote from Pere Joan Pons stating, “As chairman of an assembly committed to dialogue, I deeply regret the decision made by the United States not to invite the OSCE to witness its 2026 midterm elections.” La Presse reported that OSCE observers "deplored" not being invited, calling it a "significant distance from a well-established democratic practice."

Centre

8 rated outlets

  • The centre-rated outlets reported that the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) had not been invited to observe US federal elections in November. This marks the first time since 2002 that the body has not been asked to monitor US elections.
  • Reports stated the OSCE called the decision "regrettable" and a departure from established democratic practice. The organisation noted this was contrary to commitments made by all OSCE participating states, including the US.
  • The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly president, Pere Joan Pons, was quoted expressing regret. Some reports mentioned the US executive's desire to reduce the organisation's annual budget, though no outlet provided an official explanation from the US government.

Right

10 rated outlets

  • Göteborgs‑Posten led on the timing of the U.S. midterm elections and that the OSCE had not received an invitation. n‑tv led on the fact that the OSCE had observed every U.S. federal election since 2002 but would now be excluded. La Razón led on the claim that the decision breaks past commitments, and Handelsblatt led on the description of the November elections as interim elections without observers.
  • n‑tv’s digest noted that the OSCE’s president emphasised the need for observers to safeguard election integrity. Handelsblatt’s digest characterised the exclusion as an attack on the OSCE. La Razón’s digest framed the move as a deviation from long‑standing practice, while Göteborgs‑Posten’s digest presented the invitation lapse without additional commentary.
  • None of the right‑rated digests mention any official U.S. statement, a cost estimate for observation, or details about how the OSCE conducts its monitoring. They also omit reference to any domestic legal framework governing election observation in the United States.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover OSCE monitors not invited to US elections for first time since 2002?
Of the 32 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 44% are rated left, 25% are rated centre, 31% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 55. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is OSCE monitors not invited to US elections for first time since 2002 left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 32 rated outlets on this story, 44% are rated left, 25% are rated centre, 31% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of OSCE monitors not invited to US elections for first time since 2002 biased?
OSCE monitors not invited to US elections for first time since 2002 is one event reported by 55 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting OSCE monitors not invited to US elections for first time since 2002?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered OSCE monitors not invited to US elections for first time since 2002?
55 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
Why are OSCE observers not invited to the US elections?
The OSCE announced that it has not been invited to observe the US midterm elections in November 2026. The organisation stated that this decision is not in line with the commitments undertaken by all OSCE participating states. The president of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly described the decision as a "significant departure from an established democratic practice."
When was the last time OSCE observers were not invited to US elections?
The OSCE has not been invited to observe US federal elections for the first time since 2002. Since then, the organisation has observed 12 federal elections in the United States, including six midterm elections.
What is the OSCE?
The OSCE, or Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, is a Vienna-based organisation founded in 1975. It has 57 member states from Europe, central Asia, and North America and focuses on security, political, economic, and environmental cooperation, as well as election observation.

Read it at the source

55 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

14
Show 6 more

Centre

8

Right

10
Show 2 more

Not rated

23
Show 15 more

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

More in Politics

All Politics →
Catherine Loubier, former delegate general of Quebec in New York, speaks during the HEC Montreal Energy Conference in Montreal, on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes)2 min readEx-diplomat sees chance for Canada to rebuild US energy tiesRead storyFlávio Bolsonaro desembarca de avião3 min readFlávio Bolsonaro claims solo exit from Brazil, US sources cite TrumpRead storyA voter picks up an "I Voted" sticker after casting their ballot in the US midterm elections on November 3, 2026. © 2026 AP Photo/George Walker IV4 min readBallot measures on rights passed in US midterm electionsRead story
OSCE excluded from US elections | MediaBias News