DHS to Deploy Agents for Voter-Fraud Investigation in Nine States
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The Department of Homeland Security announced a coordinated surge of Homeland Security Investigations agents to examine alleged voter-fraud cases in nine states ahead of the midterm elections.
The Department of Homeland Security said it will begin a "coordinated criminal voter fraud surge initiative" on Tuesday, deploying agents from its Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit to pursue leads, conduct field interviews and support prosecutorial review in nine states. The states listed in internal guidance are Washington, Wisconsin, Missouri, Georgia, California, Pennsylvania, Nevada, New York and Connecticut, with activities expected to run from early September through mid-October.
HSI, an arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement that typically handles crimes such as human trafficking and drug smuggling, has been tasked with examining voter-registration records for possible non-citizen voting. The guidance does not reference the Justice Department’s longstanding policy that discourages overt investigative actions close to an election, a policy that was reinstated under the current administration.
A Homeland Security spokesperson said HSI is "actively rooting out and investigating election fraud wherever it can be found" and that the agency is committed to "restoring integrity to our election systems" under the current administration.
The move follows earlier statements by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who has emphasized a crackdown on alleged voter-fraud and warned that officials who do not address the issue could face penalties. The department previously reported an audit that identified over 250,000 registered non-citizens in four states, though internal records later showed a much smaller number of confirmed matches.
To date, the administration has announced only a few prosecutions related to non-citizen voting, including the recent arrest of a Honduran national charged with fraudulent registration. First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli described the arrest as "the first of many to come."