The Department of Homeland Security will withhold billions in preparedness grant funding from states that refuse to adopt new election security measures, including voter citizenship verification using the SAVE database, post-election audits and expanded use of hand-marked paper ballots. FEMA, a sub-agency of DHS, is making more than $1 billion available through its Homeland Security Grant Program, but participation now comes with conditions tied directly to election integrity requirements.
Under the new rules, states seeking grant funding must submit plans to transition away from electronic voting systems that use QR codes or barcodes in favor of hand-marked paper ballots. After each federal election, participating states must conduct a manual audit of at least 5% of all ballots cast. States must also match the number of voters who participated with the number of ballots cast and verify voter citizenship through the SAVE database within 120 days of any grant award.
What the Left Is Saying
Democratic governors have already pushed back against the SAVE database, arguing it is insufficiently maintained. Critics warn that conditioning federal preparedness funding on election security requirements could be coercive and may face legal challenges similar to those encountered by the Trump administration's earlier effort to obtain voter records from states.
A judge in Pittsburgh sided with Pennsylvania last month after the Justice Department sued more than 25 states seeking voter records including Social Security numbers. Obama-appointed Judge Cathy Bissoon ruled that the federal government lacks authority to demand such sensitive state information. Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt, a Philadelphia Republican appointed by Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, had balked at the demand and offered a redacted version of the state voter file without sensitive data.
Schmidt told the DOJ in his response that such broad data collection represents 'a concerning attempt to expand the federal government's role in our country's election process,' according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. Democrats have argued that existing state-level election security measures are sufficient and that unfunded mandates tied to grant funding unfairly pressure states into adopting federal preferences.
What the Right Is Saying
President Donald Trump and many Republicans have slammed states that resist letting the federal government audit their voter rolls, while criticizing slow vote tabulation processes in states like California. A DHS spokesperson said threats to election systems continue to evolve and that Secretary Markwayne Mullin has made critical infrastructure protection a top priority.
"Under President Trump's leadership, we are taking decisive action to protect election systems from threats like foreign interference, insider threats and cyberattacks," the DHS spokesperson said. "These new requirements for homeland security grant recipients will preserve election integrity and ensure that Americans can trust the results." Supporters argue elections fall within critical infrastructure and remain susceptible to foreign attacks, making federal oversight both appropriate and necessary.
What the Numbers Show
FEMA is making more than $1 billion in Homeland Security Grant Program funding available to states willing to meet new election security conditions. The grant program has historically funded counter-terrorism preparedness, disaster response capabilities and infrastructure protection across all 50 states and U.S. territories. Under the new framework, participating states must audit at least 5% of ballots after each federal election and verify citizenship status for every registered voter using the SAVE database within 120 days of receiving a grant award.
The DOJ's recent legal effort to obtain voter records from more than 25 states resulted in a court loss when Judge Bissoon ruled that federal authorities lack authority to demand highly sensitive state information. Pennsylvania officials offered only redacted data, citing constitutional concerns about the scope of the federal request.
The Bottom Line
DHS is attempting to achieve through grant conditions what it could not accomplish through direct legal demands. Whether this approach survives judicial scrutiny remains uncertain. States that decline the grants forfeit access to federal preparedness funding while those that accept face new compliance requirements and deadlines for citizenship verification. The SAVE database, brought into public view amid debates over illegal immigrants obtaining driver's licenses in some states, will now serve as a central tool for voter roll verification if states participate. Watch for legal challenges from states that view the conditions as an unconstitutional expansion of federal power over elections, which remain primarily under state control under the Constitution.