The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is urging states to use the SAVE System—a tool originally designed to verify immigration status for government benefits—to assess voter rolls. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin announced the push on Friday, July 17, 2026, claiming that 250,000 non-citizens are registered to vote across four states. The agency released a report on Thursday night outlining the initiative.
Critics, including state election officials and experts, have raised concerns about the SAVE System’s reliability, citing past instances of faulty data. It remains unclear whether DHS used the system to identify the alleged 250,000 non-citizen registrants, as Mullin did not specify the methodology in his remarks.
In a separate interview on Face the Nation (July 19, 2026), former CISA Director Chris Krebs and election security expert David Becker discussed broader election integrity efforts. Krebs reaffirmed the security of the 2020 election, contrasting with recent claims by President Donald Trump. Becker emphasized the importance of long-term election infrastructure investments.
DHS’s push for voter roll scrubbing comes amid heightened scrutiny over election security ahead of the midterm elections, with Mullin promising a detailed plan within 30 days.