{"id":5145,"date":"2026-07-17T20:35:03","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T20:35:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5145"},"modified":"2026-07-17T20:35:03","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T20:35:03","slug":"mullin-pushes-states-to-comply-with-election-demands-echoing-trumps-claims-about-midterm-risks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5145","title":{"rendered":"Mullin pushes states to comply with election demands, echoing Trump\u2019s claims about midterm risks"},"content":{"rendered":"
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WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Friday warned that state officials could lose funding or face investigations if they fail to go along with President Trump\u2019s election security demands, part of the Republican president\u2019s longstanding attempt to undermine Americans\u2019 confidence in the vote.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more What to know about the latest federal fundraising data from N.H. candidates<\/a><\/p>\n

Experts said the threats \u2014 issued just months before midterm elections that will determine control of Congress \u2014 were likely hollow because Trump\u2019s voting initiatives have been stalled by judges and the Constitution gives states control over how elections are run.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Mullin\u2019s remarks, delivered from the White House complex one day after Trump\u2019s primetime address on the topic, could further doubts about election processes and create headaches for states as they prepare for November.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe absolutely can build confidence in the American people, but the states have to do their part,\u201d Mullin said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump continues to falsely claim that Democrat Joe Biden won only because of fraud in 2020, and he\u2019s tried to marshal the powers of the federal government to rewrite that history since he returned to office last year \u2014 even though judges and his own attorney general in his first term concluded the election was legitimate.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mullin insisted that the president was not relitigating the 2020 election, \u201calthough he definitely could at this point.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is just about exposing what took place and making sure it never happens again,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Mullin\u2019s claims of noncitizen voters rely on incomplete data<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

During his remarks, Mullin advanced an unsubstantiated claim Trump made Thursday that the federal government had found 250,000 noncitizen voters on the rolls in California, Nevada, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He said the Department of Homeland Security\u2019s investigation was conducted using public data, which election experts say is insufficiently detailed and updated to properly identify whether a registered voter is a noncitizen.<\/span><\/p>\n

Election officials in California and Pennsylvania said they would review the Trump administration\u2019s findings but noted that they conduct their own voter list maintenance and noncitizen voting is exceedingly rare. Research has supported that finding.<\/span><\/p>\n

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, responded to Mullin\u2019s threats with a post on social media.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCalifornia has free, fair, and secure elections and we will fight for them,\u201d he wrote. \u201cTry us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

In Nevada, Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, also a Democrat, said he was confident in the integrity of the state\u2019s voter file.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are constantly looking at the information to figure out how many registered voters in Nevada don\u2019t have a Social Security number on file,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have done significant work to make sure our voter rolls are as clean as possible.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mullin also pledged to aggressively monitor public voter lists to pursue potential voter fraud cases before and after the 2026 election.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Court temporarily reinstates Pentagon\u2019s escort policy for journalists<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are an illegal or you are voting illegally, we will hunt you down, we will find you and we will prosecute you,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

He urged states to participate in DHS\u2019 recently overhauled SAVE program, a federal tool central to the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to nationalize elections. At least 25 states have used it to check their voter rolls since April 2025, after the Trump administration significantly expanded its search abilities, and the Trump administration has demanded that states submit their sensitive voter data to the program to fully audit their voter lists.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mullin said if state officials don\u2019t participate in SAVE, they could face fines, penalties or prison time.<\/span><\/p>\n

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But the overhauled program\u2019s use was recently blocked by a federal judge over concerns about privacy and wrongful purges of eligible voters. The case included voters whose registrations were wrongly flagged by the program, temporarily threatening their place on the rolls.<\/span><\/p>\n

David Becker, the executive director of the nonprofit Center for Election Innovation and Research, said Mullin was making empty threats.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery court to consider the DOJ\u2019s demands \u2014 15 of them to date, six of those judges appointed by President Trump \u2014 have confirmed that the federal government cannot legally demand access to states\u2019 sensitive voter data,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat he\u2019s suggesting is illegal.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, Trump\u2019s efforts to pass the SAVE Act, federal legislation that would require proof of citizenship for voter registration, has stalled in the Senate. Republicans don\u2019t have enough votes to change the filibuster rules and pass it without Democratic support.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Cybersecurity support for election officials has been diminished in Trump\u2019s second term<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Mullin also elevated Trump\u2019s concerns about vulnerabilities in electronic voting machines \u2014 which voting experts have long acknowledged. While Trump suggested Thursday that these risks make it possible to \u201crig\u201d the vote, election officials say there are numerous safeguards in place to prevent that, including physical security, voting machine tests, postelection reviews and paper ballot backups in most of the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

To address the concerns, Mullin said the nation\u2019s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which sits under DHS, would release an updated election infrastructure plan within 30 days and provide cyber threat resources to election officials if they participate in SAVE.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, Trump has broadly dismantled the agency\u2019s election security operation.<\/span><\/p>\n

CISA was largely absent from its long-held role assisting states in last year\u2019s elections after the Trump administration conducted a review of its election work, placed more than a dozen election-focused staffers on administrative leave and slashed $10 million from two cybersecurity initiatives, including one dedicated to helping state and local election officials. The agency is also still without a Senate-confirmed director and has cycled through a series of acting leaders.<\/span><\/p>\n

Aguilar said his state has stepped up and will protect its own elections in the absence of federal help.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that they think they\u2019re going to come in prior to the general election in November and provide us infrastructure, that\u2019s nuts,\u201d he said. \u201cActions speak louder than words, and in their case, it\u2019s all been talk.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Trump administration revives rule that could deny green cards to immigrants who use public benefits<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Homeland Security secretary warned that state officials could lose funding or face investigations if they fail to go along with the administration’s election security demands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nMullin pushes states to comply with election demands, echoing Trump\u2019s claims about midterm risks - Boston Relocation Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5145\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mullin pushes states to comply with election demands, echoing Trump\u2019s claims about midterm risks - 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