Trump's Justice dept steps into US midterm battles, breaks decades-old practice

US President Donald Trump's Justice Department has stepped into election disputes ahead of Tuesday's US midterm elections, breaking with decades of practice aimed at keeping federal law enforcement agencies from appearing to favour a political party or candidate.The department has filed lawsuits challenging election procedures in California and Alaska, raising concerns among critics that its powers are being used to influence contests that could determine control of Congress and several governors' offices, Reuters reported.In California, the Justice Department sought to block mail-in ballots from around 20,000 voters it suspects may be non-US citizens and therefore ineligible to vote. It has also demanded election records as part of a related criminal investigation.California officials have rejected the move, saying the state has safeguards to prevent noncitizens from voting and arguing that the federal government lacks the authority to block the ballots.In Alaska, the department has stepped up a criminal investigation into whether a Senate candidate sharing the name of Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan entered the race to confuse voters. It also moved to prevent certification of t...