Trump's DHS chief warns of 'prison time' for election officials who refuse to cooperate

WASHINGTON, DC: Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin warned state election officials they could face fines, penalties or even prison time if they refuse to cooperate with the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) election security efforts after receiving federal guidance.

His remarks came a day after President Donald Trump renewed disputed claims about the 2020 election and criticized voting machines as vulnerable. Mullin went further by outlining possible consequences for state officials who decline to work with DHS on election security measures.

Mullin threatens penalties for election officials

Speaking to reporters on Friday, July 17, at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus, Mullin said states could help restore confidence in future elections, but insisted they must participate in federal election security efforts.

"When we start talking about can we ensure that the midterm elections are going to be secure? Yes, we absolutely can build confidence in the American people, but the states have to do their part," he said.

Mullin then warned that officials who reject DHS assistance could face legal consequences.

"I will tell you, if the states choose not to participate, we will make sure that we make those states a priority to look at who voted in their states and hold the election officials accountable," he 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," Mullin said.

He also said DHS wants states to ensure "the machines had to be secured" and that "your voter registration list needs to be scrubbed."

Mullin expands Trump's election security claims

While Trump said Thursday that voting machines are "vulnerable and they're easily compromised," Mullin raised the possibility that foreign adversaries could hack voting systems and manually change votes, according to the report by the Hill.

The US intelligence community has previously concluded such manipulation has never occurred, it said.

Mullin also spent much of the press conference discussing noncitizen voting, arguing that as many as 287,000 noncitizens could be registered to vote while claiming roughly 400,000 dead voters remained on voter rolls.

Ahead of the briefing, DHS said it had sent letters to four states after a "preliminary review" found that as many as 250,000 noncitizens may have been registered to vote, though the department did not claim they had cast ballots.

Pennsylvania rejects DHS voter roll request

A copy of one DHS letter obtained by The Hill showed the agency estimated there "may be as many as 14,576 non-citizens registered to vote in Pennsylvania" and said, "The most efficient way to ensure the accuracy of our findings is to work collaboratively on identity verification."

Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt rejected giving DHS access to the state's voter rolls, saying every voter must verify their identity before casting a ballot and adding, "All evidence has shown that noncitizen voting is extremely rare across the country, including in Pennsylvania."

Schmidt said Pennsylvania would review any information provided by DHS but maintained the state could not share residents' private personal information.

The report also noted courts have repeatedly blocked federal attempts to access state voter rolls, while Mullin criticized what he called "activist judges" for preventing administration election initiatives.