Homeland Security Secretary Warns States of Penalties Over Noncitizen Voter Roll Checks

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin warned state election officials on Friday that they must run their voter rolls through a federal database maintained by the Department of Homeland Security to identify noncitizens, or risk losing federal grant funding and facing criminal penalties. Mullin said the department had preliminarily found more than 250,000 noncitizens on voter lists in California, New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania and urged states to cooperate within two weeks.

“If you’re illegal and attempted to vote, or you tried to vote illegally for someone else, we will find you and we will charge you,” Mullin said from the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

The database, originally designed for immigration benefit assessments, has been barred by a federal judge from being repurposed for voter-roll checks due to concerns over the disclosure of Social Security records and documented errors that can misclassify newly naturalized citizens. Voting-rights experts say the tool is prone to inaccuracies and could lead to the removal of eligible voters.

Mullin also cautioned that illegal voter registration and voting could result in up to five years in prison and fines of up to $250,000. He indicated that the Department would continue to audit election records for ineligible votes, including those of deceased individuals, both before and after the upcoming midterm elections.

The remarks come amid broader efforts by the Trump administration to challenge the integrity of recent elections, including lawsuits for voter-roll data, letters from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division warning of criminal penalties, and recent leadership changes at agencies that oversee election security.