The Department of Homeland Security is starting a surge of voter fraud investigations this past Tuesday. Internal federal guidance indicates that the department will target nine specific states, including Missouri, for election-crime investigations. [1]
The operations will run from early September to mid-October. The department is using Homeland Security Investigations for this work. This agency normally handles major crimes like drug smuggling and human trafficking. Now, agents will look into the voting histories of people they believe are noncitizens who may have voted or registered to vote. A Homeland Security spokesperson stated, “Under President Trump, HSI is committed to restoring integrity to our election systems and ensuring that American citizens and only American citizens are electing American leaders.” Other states in the probe include Washington, Wisconsin, Georgia, California, Pennsylvania, Nevada, New York, and Connecticut.
“The department is using Homeland Security Investigations for this work.”
Starting these investigations right before midterm elections goes against past Justice Department rules. Those older rules tried to stop investigations from changing election outcomes. However, the Department of Homeland Security is a separate department and does not have to follow that specific policy. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has led the push to find election fraud. He recently told reporters, “One thing that I love about numbers, and I love about facts, is they don’t lie.”
Mullin’s department previously claimed to find more than 250,000 registered noncitizens in four states. Even with the increase in agents, the administration has only made a small number of prosecutions so far.
Notes:
- ^CNN. (2026). Homeland Security planning voter fraud investigations in select states. Cable News Network. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/31/politics/homeland-security-voter-fraud-investigations?_kx=1x43kDgWwqoA9z6gOvSgEm3RvsKfgbaTtHLlDUOuY6U.Xv8Tf7 (go back ↩)
