The Department of Homeland Security will withhold preparedness grant funding from states that refuse to adopt a new set of election security rules, a move that ties federal dollars to how states run their elections. The shift affects more than $1 billion in taxpayer funding FEMA is making available through the Homeland Security Grant Program.
Chad Pergram reported from Capitol Hill that the demand is not symbolic. States seeking the grants must agree to voter citizenship verification, post-election audits and expanded use of paper ballots if they want access to the money, and the department is making clear that the funding will not flow to states that decline.
The rules go further than a broad call for tougher election safeguards. To qualify, states must submit plans to move away from electronic voting systems that rely on QR codes or barcodes instead of hand-marked paper ballots. After each federal election, they would have to carry out a manual audit of at least 5% of all ballots cast and match the number of voters who participated with the number of ballots counted. Within 120 days of any grant award, states also would have to use the SAVE database to verify the citizenship of every listed voter in the state.
DHS told News Digital that threats to election systems continue to evolve, and a spokesperson said elections are part of critical infrastructure that remains vulnerable to foreign attacks. The department said it is taking decisive action under President Trump's leadership to guard against foreign interference, insider threats and cyberattacks, and argued the new requirements will preserve election integrity and help Americans trust the results.
That push lands in the middle of a wider fight over who should control election checks. Democratic governors have criticized the SAVE database as insufficiently upkept, while DHS has denied that assertion. At the same time, President Trump and many Republicans are pressing states they say should not be able to resist federal audits of voter rolls, and they are also attacking slow vote tabulations in places like California.
The broader political fight helps explain why the money matters now. Senate Republicans are pushing the Save America Act, which would require proof of U.S. citizenship for voter registration, but the GOP is still short of the 60 votes needed because of Democratic opposition. A separate DHS funding vote is also looming, which means the grant fight is colliding with a larger funding calendar and leaving states to decide quickly whether the new rules are worth the money.
Chad Pergram's reporting makes the next step plain: states that want the grants will have to submit compliance plans, and those that do not are likely to lose access to the funding. What remains unresolved is how many states will accept the new election security terms and how many will walk away from a pot of money that is now being used as leverage.
