Federal INTERFERENCE in ELECTIONS

Inventing false claims of widespread noncitizen voting. In a national address in July 2026, President Trump claimed, with no evidence, that the Department of Homeland Security identified 278,000 noncitizens registered to vote. The next day, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin claimed more than 250,000 noncitizens were registered in just four states. Homeland Security has not explained how it arrived at these numbers, and state officials say the numbers Homeland Security has cited in private meetings are drastically lower than Trump’s public claims. Additionally, all four states refused Justice Department demands for their private voter roll data, so it’s even less clear what information the administration is using. The administration’s strategy is to collect as much voter roll information as it can, claim rampant noncitizen voting without evidence, and then pressure states to kick voters off the rolls.

Pushing false claims of foreign interference and voter fraud. Also in July, Trump claimed that declassified intelligence files revealed “shocking vulnerabilities” in election administration, including voter roll maintenance. In fact, much of the information was already public, and it failed to establish that any U.S. election had been compromised. For example, Trump claimed that China carried out perhaps “the largest compromise of election data in history.” But the declassified files show that China collected voter information that was already publicly available. Trump also cited attempted voter fraud in Michigan, but in that case the state’s system worked: State election officials flagged and rejected potentially fraudulent voter forms, and no votes were cast via those registrations. These examples illustrate how the White House relies on misrepresentations about voter rolls to support its false claim of an “unprecedented election security nightmare.”

Amassing a federal stockpile of voter information. Across the country, the Justice Department is trying to seize state voter rolls, including sensitive personal information. States control and maintain these rolls, following federal and state law. Regardless, pursuant to instructions in Trump’s March 2025 executive order, the Justice Department has persuaded at least 16 states to hand over their voter rolls and is suing to get voter rolls from 29 additional states and the District of Columbia. At least 26 of those lawsuits have been dismissed by federal courts. In September 2026, the Justice Department warned 30 states to preserve 2024 election materials, including voter rolls, because each state’s chief election official is “currently under investigation” and subject to “ongoing litigation.”

The Department of Homeland Security is compiling information about and scrutinizing various categories of voters. The department’s efforts include its SAVE program, baseless investigations into state election procedures, and subpoenas for individual voter records. Before the November 2026 election, the department announced it would be “ramping up” its hunt for voter fraud.

Pressuring states to remove voters from the rolls. Homeland Security and the Justice Department have acknowledged they are sharing the voter roll information they obtain with each other. With vast amounts of voter roll information in its hands, the administration is pressuring states to scrutinize and remove voters from the rolls, including those who are validly registered. Some states have already agreed to allow the Justice Department to order the removal of specific voters. This process includes no checks or transparency and is aimed at controlling who votes in the 2026 election.

Distorting voter roll information. In the event of election results he doesn’t like, Trump could use federally collected voter information as a premise for mass challenges or invalidation of selected ballots. The administration could distort the voter information it has collected to make false allegations of errors and fraud during the 2026 election. The administration could present bogus analyses to exclude valid ballots in precincts where altered vote counts might lead to the results Trump wants.

Pushing false claims of noncitizen voting. The administration has already demonstrated it is willing to vastly overstate the number of noncitizens on the voter rolls. In Georgia, the Department of Homeland Security claimed to have found 2,600 potential noncitizens on the rolls. In fact, Georgia officials concluded that only 120 of the flagged individuals had ever voted in the state, and Homeland Security never offered proof that even those 120 were noncitizens. In Nevada, the administration claimed to have found more than 15,000 noncitizens on the rolls, then said it had confirmed only 185 of those. Nevada investigated and found that every single one is a citizen. State officials are concerned the administration could use unverified numbers as a pretext to interfere with precinct vote counting.

Given the compressed timing of vote-counting and the obscurity of the administration’s claims, it could be difficult to dispute allegations that error-filled voter rolls have allowed fraudulent voting in 2026. Such allegations would further undermine public confidence in elections and encourage baseless election challenges by losing candidates and Trump allies.

Distorting state voter data. After obtaining information about millions of voters, the Trump administration could distort the data to claim that certain elections have been so compromised by invalid voters that the results cannot be certified. Again, lack of transparency would make discrediting those claims difficult.

The administration is laying potential groundwork for this tactic with unsupported or disproved claims about hundreds of thousands of noncitizens on voter rolls, and about widespread foreign interference and domestic malfeasance with voter rolls. The administration could use any or all of these claims as a pretext to challenge certification of unfavorable election results.

Reviving lies about the 2020 election. To make false claims about voter rolls appear legitimate, Trump and his allies are also resurrecting conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. The administration has opened baseless and politically motivated investigations, including FBI seizures of 2020 voting records in Arizona and Georgia. To rationalize these investigations, Trump and his allies are promoting false claims about rigged vote counts and noncitizen voting that started in 2020. In fact, the 2020 election results were verified by state election officials, numerous recounts, and professional audits.

Election Deniers experimented with attempts to stop certification in the 2022 and 2024 elections based on conspiracy theories about election administration and voter rolls that Trump has stoked for years. In 2026, the administration will be positioned to pressure state and county officials to interfere with state election certification.

Making false allegations about voting machines. Trump and his allies regularly promote conspiracy theories about voting machines, claiming interference by foreign hackers and corrupt election officials. In a July 2026 primetime speech, Trump claimed, with no evidence, that foreign actors could take advantage of “shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure.”

The next day, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said foreign adversaries can access “what they consider the key to the back” of voting machines and change votes. Election technology experts pointed out there is no evidence that voting machine hacking has ever been used to undermine U.S. election results and that it is extremely unlikely because voting equipment is generally not connected to the internet.

Voting machine conspiracy theories were central to the false narrative that the 2020 election was rigged against Trump. Trump allies ruined the lives of two Georgia election workers by falsely accusing them of manipulating voting machine results, and online disinformation sites agreed to pay millions of dollars in defamation settlements after spreading voting machine conspiracy theories.

In fact, modern voting machines are secure. They are subject to strict physical security measures and chain-of-custody procedures, rigorously tested before elections, and their results are verified with post-election audits. But promoting conspiracy theories about voting machines erodes confidence, and Trump allies are poised to leverage those doubts to challenge unfavorable results in 2026.

Banning voting machines. In his March 2025 executive order on elections Trump sought to prohibit certain types of voting machines. That provision was blocked by a federal court, but some counties changed their voting equipment even though it was not required. In August 2025, the president proposed eliminating voting machines altogether.

Administration officials have similarly sought to eliminate voting machines. Kurt Olsen, previously a senior attorney at the Justice Department as well as a White House Director of Election Security and Integrity, explored banning voting machines used in more than half of U.S. states by trying to have them declared a national security risk. When he failed, other Election Deniers pursued similar objectives. David Harvilicz, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Cyber, Infrastructure, Risk & Resilience Policy, has called for scrapping voting machines altogether.

Counting ballots entirely by hand, as Trump allies have proposed, would produce less accurate results and take much longer. Trump allies could use the resulting chaos and delay as the basis to discard votes. Even where voting machines remain in place, Trump’s promotion of conspiracy theories about them undermines confidence in election results, and thus sets the stage for his allies to challenge votes and results they do not like in 2026.

Eliminating voting machine support infrastructure. During the current administration, Trump has overseen significant cuts to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which historically has helped local election offices protect voting machines and other election infrastructure. Other federal agencies, including the FBI and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, have also dismantled much of their election security work under Trump.

In addition, the administration is rejecting independent analysis that undermines its conspiracy theories. The administration hired Mojave Research to analyze voting machines seized from Puerto Rico. When the company found no evidence that any 2020 votes were altered, Trump allies, including Olsen, publicly maligned the company and the administration canceled its contract.

Seizing or “inspecting” voting machines. After the 2020 election, Trump allies in several states tampered with election equipment in a vain attempt to find fraud. Trump said he regrets not having the National Guard seize voting machines after the 2020 election, and he has mused about invoking the Insurrection Act during his second term. After the 2026 election, Trump and his allies could attempt to seize election equipment, claim fraud, and insist that election results can’t be certified. Seizure of voting machines would break the chain of custody, obscure results, and risk invalidating entire elections.

Ahead of the 2026 election, Trump administration officials and allies have sought access to voting machines. Former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard seized voting machines in Puerto Rico to investigate unspecified anomalies. In Missouri, Colorado, and Wyoming, election officials faced requests from federal officials to inspect or examine voting machines in their states. The state and local election officials refused these requests, pointing out that complying would violate the law and compromise election integrity. Wyoming’s Republican governor expressed concern, saying, “I feel very strongly about the federal government coming in and taking our guns—I don’t like that. And I don’t like the federal government coming in and taking our votes, either.” Even when unsuccessful, these attempts to interfere with voting machines sow doubt, setting up a pretext for Trump allies to challenge certification in 2026.