Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has requested a Justice Department investigation into the reliability of digital ballot-marking devices and the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC). Simultaneously, the Department of Homeland Security has launched a coordinated voter fraud probe targeting noncitizens across nine states. Democratic officials, including Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs and Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, have denounced the federal operations as baseless attempts to intimidate voters and cause chaos ahead of the midterm elections.
Nine-state voter fraud probe
- ▪The Department of Homeland Security's voter fraud investigation deployed agents on September 1, 2026, to Washington, Wisconsin, Missouri, Georgia, California, Pennsylvania, Nevada, New York, and Connecticut.
- ▪The Department of Homeland Security launched a coordinated voter fraud investigation across nine states in early September 2026, targeting noncitizens suspected of illegally registering or voting.
Noncitizen voting enforcement
- ▪The Department of Homeland Security is utilizing the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program to allow states to cross-check voter rolls against federal citizenship and immigration records.
- ▪Internal federal guidance directs Homeland Security Investigations to build criminal cases against individuals suspected of illegally registering or voting from early September through mid-October 2026.
- ▪Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin announced in July 2026 that states seeking Department of Homeland Security election-related grants must run their voter rolls through the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program.
Democratic officials' criticism
- ▪Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers called the federal voter fraud investigation a joke and stated that voting is a state issue rather than a federal issue.
- ▪California Secretary of State Shirley Weber's office denounced the Department of Homeland Security voter fraud operation as part of a broader effort to intimidate Californians and dismissed the findings as baseless.
- ▪Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs criticized the Department of Homeland Security probe as a waste of taxpayer dollars and an attempt to cause chaos and confusion ahead of the midterm elections.
Ballot-marking device reliability
- ▪Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin asserted that some electronically cast or counted ballots could be inaccurate because some systems separate printed text from its identifying barcode, hindering manual audits.
- ▪Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin sent a letter on September 2, 2026, asking Attorney General Todd Blanche to investigate whether ballot-marking devices that tally votes via barcodes or QR codes comply with federal law.
ERIC voter data investigation
- ▪Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin requested that the Justice Department investigate whether the Electronic Registration Information Center improperly shared sensitive voter data, such as motor vehicle records, with the Center for Election Innovation & Research.
- ▪Center for Election Innovation & Research Executive Director David Becker denied the accusations in Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin's letter, rejecting suggestions that the group receives motor vehicle or voter data on an ongoing basis.
Debatable claims
- ▪Barcode-based ballot-marking devices are unreliable for manual audits
- ▪DHS should condition election grants on federal citizenship verification
- ▪The federal government should investigate state voter registration rolls
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