Election Security Concerns Raised by Trump
President Trump has sparked significant anger among Democrats and others on the left. In a national address, he highlighted vulnerabilities in the American electoral process, stating that evidence from George Soros’ activist network underpins his claims.
“Our elections remain susceptible to fraud and theft, leading to a loss of trust among the American people,” Trump remarked. “This ongoing situation must not continue.”
“We understand they can alter voter registration and even votes. This isn’t up for debate,” he added.
In response, Democratic officials reacted strongly to Trump’s call for the SAVE America Act, which aims to shield elections from interference. During a briefing on Friday, Homeland Security Secretary Mark Wayne Mullin explained the department’s strategies to safeguard elections.
“This really shouldn’t be a partisan issue,” Mullin emphasized. “Every American needs to recognize the importance of their vote, regardless of their political affiliation. There are individuals who shouldn’t be voting while eligible voters may be overlooked.”
Mullin elaborated on Trump’s assertions, revealing that the Department of Homeland Security has identified around 250,000 noncitizens registered to vote across four states: California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Nevada.
Specifically, the DHS preliminary data indicates that California alone has 190,832 noncitizens listed, followed by New Jersey with 35,152, Nevada with 15,903, and Pennsylvania with 14,576.
On Friday, Mullin called on state secretaries in these regions to confirm their cooperation with DHS within a two-week timeline regarding voter safety measures.
He pointed out the importance of noting that there are still 46 other states to consider. Moreover, DHS has collaborated with 23 active states to identify an additional 28,000 noncitizens on voter rolls and approximately 400,000 deceased individuals still registered.
Reiterating Trump’s concerns, Mullin stated that foreign enemies might manage to access U.S. voting machines.
“Let’s discuss our machines. Not just allies and adversaries, but actual foreign adversaries have potential access. They believe they have the keys to these machines,” he explained.
“It’s possible they can alter voter registration and change votes. There’s no question about it,” he reinforced.
Regarding the support package, Mullin stated that DHS would exert “maximum pressure” to remove noncitizens from the voting rolls and would work with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to mandate enhanced security protocols.
Thus, states seeking federal reimbursement for election administration will need to ensure enhanced security for voting machines and clean voter registration lists.
“We won’t use taxpayer funds to reimburse states that fail to secure their elections,” Mullin declared.
Recently, DHS required all recipients of the Homeland Security Grant Program to:
- Develop a plan to phase out certain electronic voting systems in favor of handwritten ballots.
- Conduct manual audits on at least 5% of all ballots cast after federal elections.
- Reconcile the number of voters and votes during each federal election.
- Verify voter rolls against DHS’ citizenship database.
- Implement immigration verification to ensure all polling place workers are U.S. citizens.
“States have a responsibility to secure their election systems, and we are here to assist,” Mullin concluded.
Furthermore, he noted that DHS is collaborating with the Department of Defense to protect voting systems used by military personnel. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency also plans to release an updated election infrastructure strategy to provide additional resources for cyber protection.
