Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Friday that states refusing to comply with the Trump administration’s election-security requirements could lose federal funding, while warning that election officials who disregard information provided by DHS could face fines, penalties or even prison time."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," said Mullin.Mullin held a press conference following President Donald Trump’s address to the nation Thursday evening on "free and fair" elections.Mullin did not identify what law election officials would violate or what charges could be brought if they declined to act on information provided by DHS.Trump announced the declassification of intelligence that he alleged reveals "shocking vulnerabilities" related to "hacking, exploitation and foreign interference."'SHADOW GOVERNMENT': TRUMP CLAIMS INTEL COMMUNITY BRAGGED ABOUT HIDING CHINESE MEDDLINGSecretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin speaks during a news conference to discuss election security ahead of the midterms.
(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)Twenty-three states are participating in DHS’ expanded SAVE program, which allows election officials to compare voter records against federal immigration data.Mullin separately said CISA would release an updated election-infrastructure plan within 30 days.
Several Republican-led states, including Mississippi, North Dakota and West Virginia, are not currently participating in the partnership."Every state that's not participating with us should be asked the hard question why not? What are you afraid of? If they're not willing to do it ...it should raise serious questions.
It's not that hard.This isn't a partisan issue," said Mullin.DHS has announced election-security conditions for recipients of FEMA’s Homeland...