Division of Homeland Safety Secretary Markwayne Mullin threatened on Friday to strip states of federal election-related assist, and to presumably search legal penalties in opposition to election officers, if they do not adjust to the administration’s voting roll probe forward of the midterms.
Mullin advised reporters that if states need to proceed to obtain federal reimbursement “to run federal elections,” they have to now cooperate with DHS’s efforts to “scrub” their voter rolls and replace the safety of their election techniques.
“We’re saying that the machines needed to be safe, and that your voter registration record must be scrubbed,” Mullin mentioned in a information convention.
Homeland Safety Secretary Markwayne Mullin speaks within the Indian Treaty Room on the Eisenhower Government Workplace Constructing on the White Home campus, Friday, July 17, 2026, in Washington.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Picture
It was not instantly clear what grants or funding may very well be in jeopardy for non-compliant states. DHS has beforehand threatened to withhold Federal Emergency Administration Company counterterrorism grants until states complied with election safety mandates.
“If states need the grant funding, to recap, they have to safe the election,” Mullin mentioned.
Mullin’s information convention got here sooner or later after President Donald Trump’s primetime speech on elections, by which he introduced he was declassifying a slew of paperwork he claims reveal vulnerabilities in America’s elections techniques and overseas interference, notably by China.
Mullin, who was sworn in as DHS secretary on March 24, claimed America’s adversaries have the “key to the again” of American voting machines, alleging that dangerous actors may change the registration of voters — and even manipulate votes which have already been forged.
However Mullin provided no proof that overseas vote manipulation has occurred, nor did he elaborate on how it’s potential.
Mullin additionally argued, as Trump did on Thursday night time, that America’s elections are additionally susceptible due to noncitizen voters being on the voter rolls.
A DHS report launched in a single day alleged greater than 250,000 noncitizens are on voter rolls in 4 states.
Mullin didn’t present extra data on how DHS arrived on the declare that 250,000 noncitizens are registered to vote in California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Nevada, saying solely it was pulled from public voter information.
The Division of Justice tried to compel states to show over their voter information, and sued greater than two dozen that refused to take action. However courts have thrown out these lawsuits throughout the board, saying the DOJ lacks a compelling cause for the information.
President Donald Trump addresses the nation from the East Room of the White Home in Washington, July 16, 2026.
Saul Loeb/Pool through Getty Pictures
Mullin mentioned it will be a “little bit more durable” to acquire knowledge from these states.
He mentioned DHS will proceed to comb by means of voter rolls in quest of noncitizens and others ineligible to vote, and threatened them with jail time and or monetary penalties.
“We’ll scrub all election information, searching for unlawful aliens and those that are ineligible to vote, together with those who someway voted, but they had been deceased,” Mullin mentioned.
“In case you’re unlawful and tried to vote, otherwise you tried to vote illegally for another person, we are going to discover you, and we are going to cost you,” Mullin continued. “Unlawful voter restoration and unlawful voting each carry penalties as much as 5 years in jail and as much as $250,000 in fines. We’ll pursue most strain on this.”
The secretary mentioned election officers could be held “accountable” if they do not comply and that the penalties could be prolonged to them.
“If the election officers, as soon as we gave them the data they should safe their elections, and so they selected to not, then these people may also be held accountable by fines, by penalties, and even relying on how far it goes, jail time,” he mentioned.
Mullin mentioned DHS will look into the integrity of each early voting and post-Election Day votes throughout this November’s midterm elections.
