International election monitors say Trump harmed 'public trust in democratic institutions'

For nearly two decades, the 57-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has been invited by the Department of State to monitor U.S. elections, and this year, participants accused President Trump of making "deliberate attempts" to "weaken confidence in the election process."

There were monitors visiting polling sites and post offices in 30 states, including Michael Georg Link, a German politician. He said that "baseless allegations of systematic deficiencies, notably by the incumbent president, including on election night, harm public trust in democratic institutions," and implored officials to count every vote.

Despite Trump claiming before the election that there would be fraud, Ursula Gacek, a former Polish diplomat who now oversees the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said monitors found "no solid ground" to such accusations. "The system held up well," she told reporters on Wednesday. "Given the extreme stress test the system was exposed to ... the American electoral process appears to have passed that test."

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Gacek also praised the "enormous effort made by election workers, supported by many engaged citizens" which "ensured that voters could cast their votes despite legal and technical challenges and deliberate attempts by the incumbent president to weaken confidence in the election process."