Courts Unanimously Reject Trump’s Voter Roll Demands as Administration Escalates Election Threats

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On the same day that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin threatened to withhold federal election funding from states that refuse to comply with the administration’s voter roll demands, a USA Today analysis revealed that the Justice Department has lost all 16 federal court decisions issued so far over its requests for sensitive voter data — including rulings from seven judges appointed by President Trump himself.

Courts Deliver Unanimous Rebuke to Federal Overreach

In a sweeping rejection of the Trump administration’s efforts to exert federal control over state-run elections, federal courts have unanimously rejected the Justice Department’s demands for access to state voter rolls, according to a USA Today analysis published Friday.

The department has lost all 16 federal court decisions issued so far over its demands for voter lists containing personal information such as addresses, dates of birth, and driver’s license and Social Security numbers. Local officials have contended that turning over this data would create a “sweeping surveillance tool.”

What makes this remarkable:

Bipartisan opposition: GOP officials in states including Idaho, Kentucky, Utah and West Virginia also fought the requests.
Trump-appointed judges rule against him: Fifteen U.S. District Court judges — nine appointed by Republicans, including seven appointed by Trump — have rejected the department’s demands as unlawful.
Unanimous legal reasoning: Judges have ruled unanimously that states run elections, not the federal government.

U.S. District Judge David Carter in Los Angeles was among the earliest to reject the administration’s demands, ruling on January 15: “The government’s request is unprecedented and illegal. It is not for the Executive, or even this Court to authorize the use of civil rights legislation as a tool to forsake the privacy rights of millions of Americans. That power belongs solely to Congress.”

The administration’s legal effort began with a March 2025 executive order directing the DOJ to prioritize preventing noncitizens from voting. DOJ then began demanding voter rolls from states to check names for citizenship and inaccuracies, citing the 1960 Civil Rights Act, the 2002 Help America Vote Act, and the 1993 National Voter Registration Act.

The administration sought to check state voter lists against the Department of Homeland Security’s SAVE database — which a judge has blocked as “inaccurate” and “unreliable” for that purpose.

Mullin Threatens to Withhold Election Funding

Despite the courts’ unanimous rejection of the administration’s demands, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin escalated the pressure on Friday, threatening to strip states of federal election-related aid if they don’t comply with the administration’s voting roll probe.

Mullin told reporters that if states want to continue to receive federal reimbursement “to run federal elections,” they must now cooperate with DHS’s efforts to “scrub” their voter rolls and update the security of their election systems.

“We’re saying that the machines had to be secure, and that your voter registration list needs to be scrubbed,” Mullin said in a news conference.

Specific threats:

States could lose federal election funding
Election officials could face fines, penalties, or prison time
Illegal voting carries penalties up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines

“If you are an illegal or you are voting illegally, we will hunt you down, we will find you, and we will prosecute you,” Mullin said.

“If the election officials, once we gave them the information they need to secure their elections, and they chose not to, then those individuals can also be held accountable by fines, by penalties, and even depending on how far it goes, prison time,” he said.

Pushback from states:

California Gov. Gavin Newsom responded to Mullin’s threats with a social media post: “California has free, fair, and secure elections and we will fight for them. Try us.”

Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, a Democrat, said he was confident in the integrity of the state’s voter file and noted that DHS’s claim that it could help states with election infrastructure just months before the election “is nuts.” “The fact that they think they’re going to come in prior to the general election in November and provide us infrastructure, that’s nuts,” he said. “Actions speak louder than words, and in their case, it’s all been talk.”

Election experts push back:

David Becker, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Election Innovation and Research, said Mullin was making empty threats: “Every court to consider the DOJ’s demands — 15 courts to date, six of those judges appointed by President Trump — have confirmed that the federal government cannot legally demand access to states’ sensitive voter data. What he’s suggesting is illegal.”

The Numbers Behind the Claims

Mullin advanced a claim Trump made Thursday that the federal government had found 250,000 noncitizen voters on the rolls in California, Nevada, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He said the DHS investigation was conducted using public data, which election experts say is insufficiently detailed and updated to properly identify whether a registered voter is a noncitizen.

Election officials in California and Pennsylvania said they would review the findings but noted that they conduct their own voter list maintenance and noncitizen voting is exceedingly rare. Research has supported that finding.

The administration also identified 400,000 deceased people who remained registered, according to Mullin. He did not say how many of the noncitizens or deceased registrants had actually cast ballots.

The Bigger Picture: A Coordinated Assault on Democracy

The combination of developments this week reveals a coordinated assault on the foundations of American democracy:

Courts have unanimously rejected the administration’s voter roll demands — including judges appointed by Trump himself — ruling that the federal government has no authority to demand states’ sensitive voter data.
The administration is escalating threats to withhold funding and prosecute state officials who refuse to comply with demands the courts have ruled illegal.
The EAC remains gutted — no commissioners to certify voting systems or provide oversight, just months before the midterms.
Trump is using a primetime address to spread false claims about election integrity, claiming 250,000 noncitizens are registered to vote without evidence that any actually voted.
The administration is seeking to nationalize elections through funding threats and legal pressure, despite the Constitution’s explicit grant of election administration authority to states.

As the Los Angeles Times editorial board noted: “The question we should be asking now isn’t whether there is massive fraud in U.S. elections — even the conservative Heritage Foundation has documented only 71 cases of such fraud in California in more than 25 years. The question is will we allow Trump to sow just enough doubt in the minds of average Americans that what comes next seems inevitable and even necessary?”

The Bottom Line

Federal courts have unanimously rejected the Trump administration’s demands for state voter roll data — with rulings from seven Trump-appointed judges among those finding the requests unlawful. Yet the administration is escalating threats to withhold funding and prosecute state officials who refuse to comply with demands the courts have ruled illegal.

This is a coordinated assault on the foundations of our democracy. The people must pay attention. The people must speak out. And the people must vote.

What You Can Do Right Now

Check Your Voter Registration. Visit your state’s election website or Vote.org to confirm your registration and update your address. Make sure you’re ready to vote in November.

Contact Your State Election Officials. Let them know you support free, fair, and accessible elections and oppose federal overreach.

Speak Out. Contact your members of Congress. Tell them you oppose the administration’s threats to withhold election funding and demand they protect the integrity of the 2026 midterms.

Talk to Your Neighbors. Many people don’t know about the unanimous court rulings rejecting the administration’s demands. Spread the word.

Support the Effort. Support Democrats at every level who will defend the right to vote and protect our democratic institutions. Join the effort for a better America at fightforthepeoplepac.com and Democrats.org. Be the voice.

Sources

USA Today: “Trump’s effort to get state voter rolls hits a brick wall in courts” (July 18, 2026)
ABC News: “Mullin threatens to withhold aid from states that don’t comply with DHS election directives” (July 18, 2026)
Arkansas Democrat Gazette: “DHS’ Mullin urges states to fall in line” (July 18, 2026)
Fox News: “Trump DHS threatens federal funding cutoff for states that refuse voter-roll security push” (July 18, 2026)
Los Angeles Times: “Trump revives his big lie about election. Stop taking the bait” (July 18, 2026)
Raw Story: “Trump’s own appointee deals his DOJ 16th straight loss in ploy to seize voter files” (July 18, 2026)

Written and composed with AI.