Donald Trump has directed Homeland Security to launch a nationwide voter fraud crackdown, with Homeland Security Investigations (ICE's investigative arm) beginning a "coordinated criminal voter fraud surge initiative" across nine states from Tuesday. The operation is intended to substantiate Trump's longstanding claims of widespread voter fraud, including by undocumented immigrants, and comes just as the 2026 midterm election season gets under way, with Republicans facing the prospect of losing control of both the House and Senate. Critics note the Justice Department has traditionally discouraged such action to avoid law enforcement influencing an ongoing election.

The initiative, running through mid-October, will see agents conduct field interviews and investigative work in Washington, Wisconsin, Missouri, Georgia, California, Pennsylvania, Nevada, New York and Connecticut. It is being driven by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who replaced Kristi Noem in March and has demanded states hand over voter rolls while threatening to withhold grant funding from those refusing to adopt the administration's election reforms. Mullin previously claimed a DHS audit found more than 250,000 noncitizens on public voter rolls in California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Nevada, though the administration has so far referred relatively few voter fraud cases for prosecution.