The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has taken steps to ensure election integrity by approving a plan that assists states in verifying voter citizenship. This plan also addresses the monitoring of mail ballot flows to detect potential voter fraud.
According to a court filing, the DHS greenlit this proposal last Thursday, with implementation expected by June’s end. The plan allows states to cross-check their entire voter registration rolls with a federal immigration database to confirm citizenship and voting eligibility.
State election officials will gain secure access to citizenship data held by federal agencies, such as the Social Security Administration and the State Department. Additionally, DHS is set to collaborate with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to scrutinize mail-in and absentee ballot flows, highlight anomalies, uncover potential fraudulent activities, and produce investigative leads.
President Donald Trump previously signed an executive order on March 31 titled “Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections.” This order mandates the creation of state citizenship lists and requires DHS to identify U.S. citizens aged 18 and over, sharing the information with state election officials.
The USPS has received instructions not to deliver mail-in ballots to individuals not officially enlisted on a state-provided “Mail-In and Absentee Participation List.” Every mail-in ballot envelope must display an “Official Election Mail” insignia and a unique tracking barcode to ascertain that only citizens participate in elections.
Furthermore, with reference to a court filing from June 5, states are allowed to submit their voter registration lists to the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program. This federal immigration database will compare voter data with federal immigration and citizenship records, including data from the Social Security Administration, to verify voter eligibility.
The initiative also features a secure online portal permitting state election officials to directly verify citizenship details held by federal agencies. This includes data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the Social Security Administration (SSA), and the State Department.
Data security will be a key concern. Information will remain within each federal agency’s system. State officials will utilize a secure portal for checking voter eligibility without transferring the data outside the agency’s system.