The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has given the green light to a new initiative aimed at aiding states in verifying the citizenship of registered voters. This effort also involves overseeing mail-in ballots to detect possible voter fraud, aligning with a key aspect of President Donald Trump’s focus on election integrity.
Approval of this initiative occurred last Thursday, with plans set for it to be operational by the end of June, as detailed in a court document filed Friday.
The strategy allows states to cross-reference their entire voter registration lists with a federal immigration database to confirm voters’ citizenship and eligibility. Additionally, state election authorities will have secure access to citizenship data held by federal entities like the Social Security Administration and the State Department.
DHS also intends to work together with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to track mail-in and absentee ballot traffic, aiming to spot irregular patterns, flag potential fraudulent activities, and generate leads for investigations, as outlined in the filings.
In an illustrative image, Oregon residents are seen submitting ballots near the Multnomah County Elections building in Portland, Oregon, on November 3, 2020. (Photo by Ankur Dholakia/AFP via Getty Images)
“DHS contemplates working with the United States Postal Service (USPS) … to monitor mail-in and absentee ballot flows, identify anomalies that may suggest voter fraud or misuse, and generate authorized investigative leads,” the filing said.Â
The move follows President Donald Trump’s March 31 executive order, “Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections,” which directs the creation of “state citizenship lists,” requiring the DHS to identify confirmed U.S. citizens age 18 and older and share that information with state election officials.Â
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A U.S. flag waves in front of a USPS office in Bethesda, Maryland, on Aug. 21, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
It also stated that the USPS is prohibited from delivering mail-in ballots to anyone who is not officially enrolled on a state-provided “Mail-In and Absentee Participation List.” All outgoing mail-in ballot envelopes must feature an “Official Election Mail” marking and a unique tracking barcode to confirm that only citizens cast ballots.Â
According to a June 5 court filing, states would be allowed to submit their full voter registration lists to a federal immigration database known as the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program. The system would compare voter records with federal immigration and citizenship data, including records from the Social Security Administration, to help confirm whether voters are eligible.
President Donald Trump appears in Madison Square Garden in New York City on June 8, 2026. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
In addition, the plan includes a secure online system that would let state election officials directly check citizenship information held by federal agencies, including U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the Social Security Administration (SSA), and the State Department.
To maintain data security, the information would stay within each agency’s system, and state officials would run checks through the secure portal when verifying voter eligibility.
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