The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is using a massive pool of federal funds to pressure states to reshape how they run their elections, rolling out new rules targeting voting machines, ballot audits, and citizenship checks.
Under the plan announced this week by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, more than $1 billion is being made available through the Homeland Security Grant Program.
But there is a catch: states, territories, and tribal governments that want their full share must first change how they track and count votes. To enforce this, FEMA announced it will freeze 20% of the grant money for each recipient until local officials provide proof that they are complying with the new mandates.
The new requirements impose a five-step checklist for any local government looking to secure the federal funds:
Ditching Barcodes: States have to turn in a plan to phase out electronic voting machines that rely on barcodes or QR codes to tally votes. Instead, they must switch to equipment designed for hand-marked paper ballots to leave a physical paper trail.
Mandatory Audits: Local officials must conduct a hand count of at least 5% of all ballots cast after every federal election to double-check machine accuracy against the paper trail.
Voter Reconciliation: Jurisdictions have to cross-reference the total number of people who showed up to vote with the actual number of ballots cast, sorting out any math errors before certifying the results.
Voter Roll Screening: Within 120 days of taking the money, states must run their entire voter registration database through the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system to check for non-citizens. Because a recent June 22, 2026 court order in League of Women Voters v. DHS paused parts of that system while it is being appealed, states are permitted to send individual records to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for manual immigration database searches instead.
Staff Background Checks: Election offices must use the same SAVE system, or a similar government database, to verify the citizenship status of all poll workers and anyone managing election equipment.
Federal officials framed the policy shift as a direct response to a changing threat landscape.
“Election security is national security and protecting the Nation’s critical infrastructure is a top priority,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement. “Under President Trump’s leadership, we are taking decisive action to protect election systems from threats like foreign interference, insider threats, and cyberattacks. These new requirements for homeland security grant recipients will preserve election integrity and ensure that Americans can trust the results.”
Because FEMA’s grant programs are legally voluntary, the federal government cannot force states to adopt these rules outright. However, officials noted that any local government choosing to take the federal taxpayer money must agree to the accountability terms attached to it.
Local agencies looking to apply can find the full criteria and the verification process inside FEMA’s newly published Notice of Funding Opportunity.
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