Donald Trump’s administration is threatening to withhold federal funding from states that fail to implement specific changes to their voting practices, while simultaneously warning state election officials of potential arrest if they do not remove non-citizens from voter rolls.
These directives, communicated through letters to states and details within grant applications, represent the latest in a series of attempts by Trump’s administration to influence election administration, a responsibility traditionally managed by individual states. Courts have largely dismissed the administration’s previous efforts, which are often rooted in unsubstantiated claims of widespread voting fraud.
These actions come less than four months before critical midterm elections, where Democrats aim to gain control of Congress and curb Trump’s power.
“The overall point is that Trump is trying to use whatever levers of power and persuasive power that he might have to try to interfere with how states and localities are going to conduct the 2026 election,” stated Rick Hasen, a UCLA law professor and director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project. “Some of this is aimed at changing how the rules are conducted. Some of it appears to be aimed at undermining voter confidence in the integrity of the election process.”
In letters dispatched Tuesday to election officials across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division cautioned that election administrators could face criminal charges if they knowingly permit non-citizens to vote or remain on voter rolls. States were given five days to outline their compliance plans.
Derek Muller, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame specializing in election law, suggested the 50-state letter might merely reiterate existing law, with a follow-up request that many states are likely to disregard. The letter also warned of criminal prosecution for anyone knowingly providing false information during voter registration or voting.
Robert Weiner, director of the voting rights project for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, noted that non-citizen voting rates are “infinitesimally small,” implying the administration’s actions are driven by motives beyond election security. “I predict that the president is trying to create chaos and then use that chaos to take drastic measures in states that oppose his policies or to refuse to recognize the results of the elections in those states,” Weiner said.
Further complicating matters, a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) antiterrorism grant announcement in June stipulated that 20% of grants for states and urban areas would be withheld until election-related requirements are met. The program allocates over $1 billion for various anti-terror initiatives, including those focused on election security. FEMA expects to award 56 grants.
The grant announcement emphasized that recipients should contribute to a “secure, transparent, and resilient electoral process,” reinforcing public trust and democratic integrity, and identifying election infrastructure security as a national priority.
Requirements include verifying the citizenship of all registered voters and election workers. Jurisdictions using electronic voting systems with barcodes or QR codes for vote counting would need to submit plans to transition to hand-marked paper ballots, and all jurisdictions would be required to audit results.
UCLA’s Hasen noted that compliance could be challenging, even for willing states, given the proximity to the midterm elections and the potential need for new state legislation. The White House referred questions to FEMA, which did not immediately respond to an inquiry.
State responses have largely fallen along partisan lines. Oregon’s Democratic Secretary of State, Tobias Read, accused the Justice Department of “knocking on our door again with more threats and no evidence to back up their fever dreams about non-existent voter fraud.” He asserted that Oregon’s elections are secure and that he is not “intimidated by political threats or manufactured controversy.”
Michigan’s Secretary of State’s office, led by Democrat Jocelyn Benson, stated it has repeatedly shared its work with the Justice Department and offered to provide information again “to help address any confusion.” Conversely, Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State, Frank LaRose, defended the Justice Department’s message, stating that it reminds states of their legal obligations regarding election integrity, while claiming that many states are not taking it seriously and providing no examples.
Georgia’s Secretary of State’s office indicated the state has already implemented many FEMA grant requirements, including a citizenship audit of voter rolls.
Donald Trump has repeatedly and falsely claimed that fraud cost him the 2020 election, leading his administration to pursue numerous policies impacting election administration. Courts have recently rejected Justice Department efforts to collect election worker data in Georgia and voter information in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. The federal government has lost over ten similar cases regarding data requests from 30 states and D.C.
Last week, Democratic governors urged the U.S. Postal Service to withdraw a proposed rule to create a list of eligible voters, stemming from a Trump order that a court previously deemed unconstitutional. The Supreme Court also recently rebuked Trump, ruling that states can count mailed ballots arriving after Election Day.
