Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has repeated Donald Trump's unverified assertions about election integrity, sparking criticism from election officials and experts.
During a press conference on Friday, Mullin claimed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) identified 250,000 noncitizens registered to vote in California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Nevada.
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David Becker of the Center for Election Innovation & Research questioned the lack of transparency in the methodology used to reach that number.
Pennsylvania's Republican Secretary of State Al Schmidt responded, emphasizing that voters must verify their identity before casting a ballot.
He noted that all evidence shows noncitizen voting is extremely rare across the country, including in Pennsylvania.
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Mullin also said DHS found 28,000 noncitizens on voter rolls in more than 20 states participating in the Save program, which verifies citizenship status.
Becker pointed out that even if accurate, that figure represents only 0.04% of the 68 million eligible voters in those states.
“One thing that I love about numbers, and I love about facts is they don’t lie,” Mullin said, urging states to collaborate with the federal government to enhance election security.
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He threatened to withhold federal grant funding from states that do not comply with these initiatives.
