Voting system investigations expand weeks ahead of midterms, raising trust concerns

Federal efforts draw state resistance

Federal agents have examined voting machines and seized ballots, while President Trump has called for nationalizing voting and urged Republican voters to “cheat like hell.” Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson said election officials now face threats from inside the federal government as well as outside actors.

Trump has signed executive orders seeking documentary proof of citizenship for voter registration and changes to mail-in ballots. The administration also tried to link some federal security assistance to states adopting specified measures, including citizenship checks; states could have lost 20% of Homeland Security Grant Program funds.

The Justice Department has sued California over its claim that ballots were being sent to more than 20,000 likely noncitizens. Secretary of State Shirley Weber said the government had not explained how it identified those people and questioned the data’s accuracy.

Voter roll demands face pushback

The Justice Department sought complete voter rolls from nearly every state last year, including information such as Social Security numbers, birth dates and driver’s license numbers. Henderson said she received inadequate explanations for the request and refused to provide Utah’s records.

Officials in 29 other states, from both parties, also declined to comply, and the department sued them. The administration says the records could help remove ineligible voters, while alleging—without providing evidence—that 278,000 noncitizens are registered.

Noncitizen voting is rare, though it occurs. New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said a software problem mistakenly registered thousands of noncitizens in her state, and about 340 cast ballots; Utah identified 52 questionable voters among more than 2 million registered voters.

Georgia seizure remains unresolved

In January, federal agents with a criminal search warrant took more than 600 boxes of 2020 election records from a Fulton County, Georgia, facility. County Commissioner Dana Barrett said she does not know where the ballots are now and described the seizure as an effort to weaken trust in future elections.

An FBI email obtained by 60 Minutes said 260 analysts were temporarily reassigned to a priority investigation of the Georgia materials. The inquiry has produced no result so far, despite dozens of probes into the county’s 2020 election.

Officials debate confidence in results

The Justice Department told Henderson last month that she was under investigation. She said she intends to uphold election safeguards despite possible consequences and believes losing candidates can help public confidence by conceding graciously.

Civil Rights Division chief Harmeet Dhillon said the administration is pursuing thousands of possible noncitizen-voting cases and that more than 1,000 election observers and monitors would be present during the midterms. She called fears that Trump might challenge the results “paranoia.” Dhillon said an individual noncitizen’s vote would be challenged rather than an entire election. She also said that, barring an unexpected major event, states should proceed with their usual counting and certification process.