DHS Secretary Threatens Criminal Charges Against State Election Officials Over Voter Rolls

On July 17, 2026, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told top election officials in all 50 states and the District of Columbia that they could face criminal charges if they do not run their voter rolls through the federal SAVE database. Mullin said the department had identified more than 250,000 noncitizens registered to vote in California, New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania, but did not say how DHS obtained those states voter files and did not assert that any of those registrants had cast a ballot. DHS simultaneously sent letters to the four secretaries of state demanding a response within two weeks confirming their intention to collaborate with the department.

The demand tests the constitutional allocation of election authority, which rests principally with the states. Federal courts have recently held that the executive branch has limited power to compel access to or changes in state voter rolls, and a federal judge in Washington, D.C., barred DHS last month from using SAVE to surveil and force removals from those rolls, finding the repurposing of the database violated several federal statutes governing the pooling of records including Social Security data. The SAVE system has also repeatedly flagged naturalized citizens as noncitizens.

The threat came a week after the Justice Department sent state election chiefs similar warnings of possible prosecution, and hours after President Trump used a primetime address to press the same claims. No charges have been announced, and the underlying court order restricting the database remains in effect.