2026-06-22T14:00:25.676Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/22/politics/homeland-security-grants-election-changes
- 特朗普政府威胁将扣下数千万美元国土安全资金，除非各州采纳大范围选举改革措施。
- 新规定将要求各州逐步淘汰特定投票系统，并通过一个颇具争议的联邦数据库核查公民身份。
- 拒绝遵守规定的州将损失20%用于反恐和防灾准备的拨款资金。
由人工智能生成的摘要已由CNN编辑审核。
据CNN获得的多名消息人士消息及内部文件显示，特朗普政府正威胁将扣留数亿美元联邦国土安全资金，除非各州采纳一系列大范围选举改革举措。这一举措是唐纳德·特朗普总统打击所谓选民欺诈行动的一部分——尽管多项研究表明选民欺诈率远低于他所称的水平——同时也是为了加强联邦政府对选举运作的影响力。此时正值多个州通过法律，试图阻止联邦政府干预选举之际。
根据针对多项国土安全拨款项目的新规定，各州必须采取多项措施，包括逐步淘汰特定电子投票系统并改用手工填写的纸质选票。他们还必须通过国土安全部一个颇具争议的公民身份核查数据库来审核选民登记名单。
若不遵守规定，各州将损失部分国土安全部拨款。本财年此类拨款总额预计将超过10亿美元，是华盛顿帮助州和地方政府预防恐怖主义、保护基础设施及应对重大灾害的主要资金渠道之一。
多年来，各州申请的国土安全拨款一直要求至少3%的资金广泛用于选举安全。但CNN获得的新指导方针预计将于本月晚些时候下发给各州，其中规定了强制性改革措施，并对违规行为处以严厉处罚。拒绝遵守规定的州将损失20%的拨款资金——可能高达数百万美元的安全相关资金。
“除非通过官方授权的机构渠道正式宣布并发布，否则任何拨款要求或资金分配调整均不具备正式效力，”国土安全部发言人在一份声明中表示，并补充道，本届政府认为选举安全是核心国家安全优先事项。
“任何联邦资金接受方都应为纳税人资金的使用方式承担责任，”该发言人说道。
这一策略符合特朗普更广泛的执政套路：利用联邦资金作为杠杆，迫使各州采纳符合其议程的政策。本届政府曾采取类似措施，以移民政策和多元化、公平性与包容性倡议为由惩罚各州。其中部分举措已被法院驳回，此次行动可能很快也会面临法律挑战。
特朗普试图通过行政命令和要求获取敏感选民数据的方式单方面全面改革选举运作方式，但也遭遇了法律障碍。法院已裁定，宪法赋予各州管理选举的权力。国会可以通过选举法规，但总统个人几乎没有权力强行要求各州修改选举规则。
“我预计（新规定）将在法院遭到驳回，”前司法部律师、现为选举官员提供咨询的戴维·贝克尔说道。
新的强制要求针对州选举管理和监督的多个核心环节。它们要求各州采用特朗普政府制定的方法进行手动选举审计，并使用经批准的政府系统核查任何在投票站工作的人员的公民身份。
各州还必须提交计划，逐步淘汰不允许选民手工填写纸质选票的投票系统，此类纸质选票将在选举期间进行计票。
大多数选区已经提供手工填写的纸质选票。但美国约30%的选民所在地区完全依赖选票标记设备——可记录选民选择并打印纸质选票用于计票的机器——或完全依赖电子存储选票的直接记录系统。
根据新规定，特拉华州、佐治亚州、内华达州和南卡罗来纳州以及洛杉矶县等地将被迫进行系统升级。
拨款条件还要求各州将完整的选民登记名单纳入SAVE系统，即“系统化外国人资格核查系统”，该工具用于识别潜在的非公民选民。批评人士称，国土安全部的这一系统存在缺陷，可能产生错误匹配结果，并可能错误地将符合资格的选民标记为应被移除。
许多州已经在使用SAVE系统审核选民登记名单，但也有一些州拒绝使用。司法部已就30个州拒绝通过该系统提交选民名单进行联邦审计一事提起诉讼。
国土安全拨款已成为本届政府向各州施压，使其配合总统政策目标的工具。去年，官员们曾试图扣留资金，除非各州提交反映本届政府大规模驱逐移民行动的最新人口统计数据，但多个州提起诉讼，法院驳回了该政策。
特朗普所寻求的选举改革可能会让各州付出高昂代价。例如，据估计，在全国范围内升级选举设备以符合自愿性投票标准的成本高达27亿美元。
在佐治亚州，州议会也已通过一项要求手工填写纸质选票的法律，共和党州务卿拉芬斯珀格估计该州将耗资6600万美元。
新的拨款计划通过动用更大份额的国土安全资金作为杠杆，加大了施压力度。不过，遵守规定的成本最终可能甚至高于从一个州扣留的总拨款额——尽管拨款指导方针规定，各州可以申请额外资金以协助落实这些改革。
本文已更新补充更多细节。
Exclusive: Trump administration plans to use homeland security funds to force states into election changes
2026-06-22T14:00:25.676Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/22/politics/homeland-security-grants-election-changes
- The Trump administration is threatening to withhold tens of millions in homeland security funds unless states adopt sweeping election changes.
- New rules would require states to phase out certain voting systems and verify citizenship through a controversial federal database.
- States refusing to comply would lose 20% of grant money that helps prevent terrorism and prepare for disasters.
AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.
The Trump administration is threatening to withhold tens of millions of dollars in federal homeland security funds from states unless they adopt a sweeping set of election changes, according to multiple sources and internal documents obtained by CNN.
The move is part of President Donald Trump’s campaign to root out alleged voter fraud — despite studies showing it’s far rarer than he claims — and exert more federal influence over how elections are run. It comes as multiple states have passed laws that seek to prevent the federal government from interfering with elections.
Under new rules governing several homeland security grant programs, states must take a number of steps, including phasing out certain electronic voting systems and moving to hand-marked paper ballots. They must also run their voter rolls through a controversial Department of Homeland Security citizenship verification database.
If not, states would lose out on some funding from DHS. These grants, expected to total more than $1 billion in the current fiscal year, are one of Washington’s main vehicles for helping state and local governments prevent terrorism, protect infrastructure and prepare for major disasters.
For years, the DHS grants, which states apply for, have required that at least 3% of the funds be spent broadly on election security. But the new guidelines, which CNN obtained and are expected to go out to states later this month, impose a set of mandatory reforms and steep penalties for noncompliance. States that refuse would lose 20% of the grant money — potentially millions of dollars in security funds.
“No changes to grant requirements or funding distributions are official until they are formally announced and published through proper, authorized agency channels,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement, adding that the administration considers election security to be a core national security priority.
“Any recipient of federal funding should expect accountability for how taxpayer dollars are spent,” the spokesperson said.
The gambit fits a broader Trump playbook: using federal funds as leverage to pressure states to adopt policies aligned with his agenda. The administration has taken similar steps to punish states over immigration policies and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Courts have blocked some of those efforts, and this one could soon face legal challenges as well.
Trump’s attempts to unilaterally overhaul how elections are run — with executive orders and demands for sensitive voter data — have also run into legal hurdles. The Constitution gives states control over administering the ballot. Congress can pass election regulations, but the president has very limited powers to force election rule changes on his own, courts have found.
“I expect (the new requirements) will be blocked in the courts,” said David Becker, a former Justice Department lawyer who now advises election officials.
The new mandates target several pillars of state election administration and oversight. They require states to conduct manual election audits using methods established by the Trump administration and to use an approved government system to verify the citizenship of any person working at a polling location.
States must also submit a plan to phase out voting systems that don’t use paper ballots that voters can mark by hand, which are tabulated during elections.
Most jurisdictions already offer hand-marked paper ballots. But about 30% of voters in the country live in places that rely entirely on ballot-marking devices — machines that record a voter’s choices and print a paper ballot for counting — or on direct-recording systems that store votes electronically.
Among the places that would be forced to transition under the new rules are Delaware, Georgia, Nevada and South Carolina, as well as Los Angeles County,
The grant conditions also require states to run their full voter rolls through SAVE, or Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, a tool used to identify potential noncitizen voters. Critics say the DHS system is flawed because it can produce false matches and may wrongly flag eligible voters for removal.
Many states already use SAVE to vet voter rolls. Others have refused. The Justice Department has sued 30 states for declining to hand over their voter lists for a federal audit using the system.
Homeland security grants have already become a tool for the administration to pressure states into falling in line with the president’s policy goals. Last year, officials tried to withhold money unless states submitted updated population counts reflecting the administration’s mass deportation campaign, but several states sued and a court blocked the policy.
The election changes Trump is seeking could be enormously expensive for states. For instance, the nationwide cost of upgrading election equipment to align with voluntary voting standards has been estimated at $2.7 billion.
In Georgia, where the state legislature has also passed a law to require hand-marked paper ballots, Republican Secretary of State Raffensperger has estimated it will cost $66 million.
The new grant plan ups the ante by using a much larger share of the homeland security funding as leverage. Still, the cost of complying might ultimately be even greater than the total amount being withheld from a state — though the grant guidelines specify that states can request additional funding to help implement these changes.
This article has been updated with additional details.