Trump Administration Quietly Uses DHS to Assert Federal Control Over State Elections, Laying Groundwork to Steal Future Votes

President Donald Trump is quietly pushing the US Department of Homeland Security to seize federal control over elections in at least eight states, according to a detailed investigation by Reuters. This aggressive federal intrusion into state-run elections signals a dangerous escalation in Trump’s long-standing effort to “steal future elections,” as described by political observers.

The US Constitution clearly assigns election administration to the states, but under Trump, DHS—normally tasked with immigration and national security—has expanded its role far beyond its mandate. Reuters reports that Trump administration officials and investigators have spread across the country demanding confidential voter records, access to voting machines, and reopening rejected voter-fraud cases.

In Ohio, DHS agents contacted local election boards in six counties, all either battleground or solidly Democratic, requesting detailed voter data including registration forms and voting histories under vague “investigations.” Meanwhile, Nevada’s secretary of state received an FBI request for voter information tied to the 2020 election, which Trump baselessly claims was stolen from him. The state never complied because the requested records did not exist.

Similar tactics unfolded in Arizona, where the state senate handed over records related to a controversial 2020 election audit, and DHS sought information linked to a state attorney general’s fraud probe. In Colorado, a lobbyist connected to the White House and Stephen Miller, Trump’s homeland security adviser, called multiple county clerks demanding access to Dominion voting machines, central to Trump’s disproven fraud conspiracies. Some clerks later received identical requests from supposed Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency officials, which many refused, citing state law violations.

These moves come on the heels of the high-profile FBI raid on a Fulton County, Georgia election facility, where ballots and voter data from the 2020 election were seized. Trump has actively influenced this investigation, even engaging with FBI agents directly.

Election officials nationwide now brace for similar raids and investigations. As Amy Burgans, a Republican election clerk in Nevada, put it, “There is an intimidation factor… Who’s going to be next?”

With Republicans’ chances in the 2026 midterms looking bleak, Trump has floated the impossible idea of canceling elections altogether. He has also failed to pass the SAVE America Act, which would force all voters to re-register and prove citizenship—a move experts warn would disenfranchise millions.

Instead, Trump’s administration is quietly pursuing the same goal by having states compare voter rolls with federal citizenship databases. Missouri’s Republican Secretary of State shared voter data with federal authorities, who flagged thousands of supposed noncitizens. County clerks say most flagged individuals were naturalized US citizens, many with Hispanic or Latino names—suggesting racial profiling.

Clinton Jenkins, a Republican clerk in Missouri, remarked, “It looks like if you have too many vowels in your name, you show up on a list.” This echoes a broader pattern of using DHS as “its own personal police force” to suppress votes under the guise of election security.

This covert federal takeover of elections is a direct assault on democracy, weaponizing government agencies to intimidate voters and election officials alike. It is a chilling reminder that the Trump administration’s efforts to undermine free and fair elections are not relics of the past but an urgent, ongoing threat.

We will continue to monitor and expose these authoritarian tactics as they unfold. Democracy demands no less.

Source: Reuters, Jacobin, Common Dreams