The Department of Homeland Security is planning a surge in investigations into voter fraud in select states starting Tuesday, according to internal federal guidance.
Who’s Leading It
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has accelerated efforts to make DHS a central player in President Trump’s push to investigate alleged widespread election fraud. The department plans to lean on Homeland Security Investigations, an ICE unit that typically handles human trafficking, drug smuggling, and child exploitation cases.
A Track Record of Overstated Numbers
DHS announced this summer that an audit of voter rolls had identified more than 250,000 registered noncitizens across California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Nevada. But those figures have proven less definitive than first suggested: the department publicly claimed nearly 16,000 noncitizens were on Nevada’s voter rolls, but privately acknowledged to state election officials it had “confirmed” just 185 of them.
What States Are Being Asked to Do
DHS has pushed states to share their voter rolls for audit and has said it will withhold grant funding from states that refuse to adopt a broader set of election-related reforms.
