Trump, allies seek to sow mistrust about election security ahead of midterms

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Set us as preferred WASHINGTON — President Trump and his allies escalated attacks on U.S.elections on Friday, after the president’s prime-time effort to convince Americans that that the nation’s voting systems are fundamentally flawed, and threatened to punish California and other Democratic states that refuse the administration’s demands for voter data.Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin threatened local election officials with fines and prison if they don’t turn over voter rolls to federal officials seeking to root out purported illegal voting by non-citizens.“Try us,” California Gov.

Gavin Newsom wrote on X in response to Mullin’s threats.He added that “California has free, fair, and secure elections” and that the state “will fight for them.”The administration’s threats — made less than four months before the November midterm elections — are a continuation of an aggressive Trump-led campaign to use the federal government to attempt to overhaul the nation’s voting systems and sow public mistrust in elections.

The administration has tried for months to compel Democrat-led states into handing over sensitive voter data to the federal government, but the efforts have run into resistance in courts, in part out of concern for privacy laws.The courts have also reaffirmed in many cases that the Constitution gives states — not the federal government — primary authority over elections.On Friday, Mullin said his agency has found “as many as” 190,832 possible non-citizens registered to vote in California, along with more in three other Democratic-led states.

He said Homeland Security arrived at those numbers by checking the four states’ public voter records.He vowed to withhold federal election security grants from states until they agree to the administration’s demands, including...