Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin fired a blistering warning at state election officials Friday: Help the Trump administration police voter rolls — or risk fines, penalties and even prison time.
Mullin delivered the threat during a White House press conference one day after President Donald Trump used a primetime address to sound the alarm over alleged vulnerabilities in America’s election system.
Asked by a Daily Caller reporter whether the administration could ensure the midterm elections would be secure, Mullin said Washington could restore public confidence — but only if states cooperate.
“Yes, we absolutely can build confidence in the American people, but the states have to do their part,” Mullin said.
Then came the warning shot.
“I will tell you, if the states that choose not to participate with the SAVE program and they choose not to participate in securing the elections, we will make sure that we make those states a priority to look at who voted in their states and hold them, the election officials, accountable,” Mullin said.
“If the election officials, once we gave them the information they need to secure their elections and they chose not to, then those individuals can also be held accountable by fines, by penalties, and even, depending on how far it goes, prison time.”
Mullin did not specify which federal laws could be used to prosecute officials who decline to participate in the program or what conduct would trigger criminal charges.
His comments came as DHS claimed that a review of publicly available voter files uncovered more than 250,000 suspected noncitizens registered to vote in California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Nevada.
Mullin said those states had not cooperated with the administration’s review. DHS has reportedly sent letters notifying officials of its findings and asking them to confirm within two weeks whether they intend to work with the department.
The secretary also said that 23 states already using the federal verification system had identified another 23,000 suspected noncitizens and approximately 400,000 deceased people on voter rolls, according to The Daily Signal.
DHS has not publicly demonstrated that the individuals it identified actually cast ballots. Being listed on a voter roll does not necessarily mean someone voted.
The Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program, known as SAVE, is an existing DHS database originally designed to help government agencies verify the citizenship and immigration status of people applying for public benefits and licenses. It is separate from the pending SAVE America Act, despite sharing the acronym.
The Trump administration has expanded the database’s use for election-related citizenship checks and is pressing states to run their voter files through it.
Mullin also indicated that federal election funding could become another pressure point.
“We are going to make our security enhancements mandatory, meaning that if these states want a grant, and they want to be reimbursed to run federal elections, they’re going to have to implement security measures,” he said.
The crackdown comes as Trump continues demanding that Congress pass the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship and identification for federal voter registration while sharply limiting mail-in voting.
The legislation has repeatedly stalled in the Senate. Majority Leader John Thune has said Republicans lack the votes needed to overcome the filibuster or change Senate rules to force it through.
