WASHINGTON, June 25, 2026 —
The Trump administration is moving to strip states of up to 20% of their federal homeland security funding unless they adopt a sweeping set of election administration changes, according to internal documents and multiple sources familiar with the plan — a push that legal experts say will almost certainly be blocked in federal court before it can take effect.
The new guidelines, expected to go out to states before the end of June, tie a portion of grants from the Department of Homeland Security directly to mandatory election reforms. These are grants that exist because of the September 11 attacks — designed to fund counterterrorism operations, infrastructure protection, and disaster preparedness. They have never before carried conditions tied to how states run their elections.
What States Would Be Required to Do
The requirements are specific. States must phase out electronic voting systems and move to hand-marked paper ballots. They must run their entire voter rolls through a federal citizenship verification database — a tool that critics, including federal judges, have described as error-prone and capable of flagging lawful, eligible voters for removal. States must also conduct manual election audits using methods set by the administration, verify the citizenship of every polling place worker through an approved federal process, and submit a plan for standardizing how ballots are timed and counted.
The financial stakes are substantial. These grants are expected to total more than $1 billion in the current fiscal year and are one of the federal government’s main vehicles for helping state and local governments prevent terrorism, protect infrastructure, and prepare for major disasters. States that refuse to comply would lose 20% of that money. Georgia officials alone estimate compliance will cost $66 million. Yahoo Sportsespn
About 30% of voters in the country live in places that rely entirely on ballot-marking devices — machines that record a voter’s choices and print a paper ballot for counting — or on direct-recording systems that store votes electronically. Among the places that would be forced to transition under the new rules are Delaware, Georgia, Nevada, and South Carolina, as well as Los Angeles County. Yahoo Sports
| DHS Election Grant Conditions — What States Must Do to Keep Full Funding | |
|---|---|
| Requirement | Detail |
| Phase out electronic voting systems | Transition to hand-marked paper ballots |
| Voter roll verification | Full rolls through federal citizenship database |
| Manual audit compliance | Follow administration-set methodology |
| Polling worker citizenship checks | Federal verification of all polling place staff |
| Ballot timing standardization | Only ballots received by Election Day counted |
| Penalty for noncompliance | 20% loss of total DHS homeland security grants |
| Total grants at stake this fiscal year | More than $1 billion |
| Georgia compliance cost estimate | $66 million |
The Legal Wall Waiting Ahead
The Constitution gives states control over administering the ballot. Congress can pass election regulations, but the president has very limited powers to force election rule changes on his own, courts have found. espn
This is not the first time the administration has tried to leverage homeland security money over state policy decisions. Last year, officials attempted to condition the same grants on states submitting updated population counts reflecting deportation operations. Courts blocked it.
A federal court this week separately barred the citizenship verification database from being used to remove voters from registration rolls, finding that the program trampled on the privacy rights of American citizens in a manner that threatens the right to vote. That is the same database the new grant conditions require states to use. FourFourTwo
A DHS spokesperson said no changes to grant requirements are official until formally announced through proper, authorized agency channels, adding that the administration considers election security a core national security priority. Yahoo Sports
State officials were less measured. The Maine Secretary of State said the plan endangers American lives and democracy itself. Oregon’s Secretary of State described the constitutional stakes plainly: states run elections.
The guidelines are expected to land this month. November’s midterms are five months away. Legal challenges, when they come, will not wait long.
