Trump Administration Challenges Local Control Of U.S. Elections Through Targeted Investigations

The Trump administration is advancing a previously undisclosed initiative to gain federal oversight of United States elections, which have traditionally been administered by state and local authorities. According to Reuters, the administration has extended its reach into at least eight states, employing investigations, raids, and demands for access to voting systems and voter registration data.

In January, the Franklin County Board of Elections in Ohio received an unexpected call from an individual identifying as a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agent. The agent requested immediate access to voter records. Franklin County, known for its large Democratic population, has long been a subject of Republican skepticism regarding urban voting centres.

In the weeks that followed, the requests proliferated. According to emails reviewed by Reuters, the agent requested voter registration forms and voting histories for dozens of individuals—records that include driver’s licence numbers and other confidential data. The agent pressed for information concerning local voter-registration groups, describing the requests as a "very time sensitive" investigation, yet provided no explanation regarding the objective or direction of the probe.

These requests came as a surprise to Franklin County election officials. Under the U.S. Constitution, elections—even for national offices—are managed by states rather than the federal government. Furthermore, the DHS mission has historically prioritised counterterrorism, border security, and immigration enforcement.

“We’d never received a call from Homeland Security before, so that was unusual,” said Antone White, the county’s elections director. Although he complied, the purpose of the inquiry remains unknown. DHS declined to comment on the Ohio operation, though it stated its agents are “actively rooting out and investigating election fraud wherever it can be found.” The U.S. attorney’s office for southern Ohio declined to comment on whether any federal investigation was underway.

The Ohio incident is part of a broader pattern identified by Reuters in at least eight states, marking a federal push into the machinery of U.S. elections, which have been run by state and local governments since 1789. Trump administration officials and investigators have sought confidential records, pressed for access to voting equipment, and re-examined voter-fraud cases that had been previously rejected by courts and bipartisan reviews.

In Ohio, federal investigators have collected voter records in at least six counties, including two that are solidly Democratic and others that are politically competitive, citing unspecified investigations. In Nevada, the FBI sought voter information from the secretary of state’s office as part of a Justice Department probe into the 2020 election. In Colorado, a senior Trump administration cybersecurity official approached a county clerk to seek access to voting machines.

These episodes are causing local election officials to reassess a federal government previously viewed as a partner in election security. In Colorado, at least 63 county clerks are consulting with their statewide association on responding to possible federal subpoenas or the arrival of federal agents at polling places. In South Carolina, officials from more than 40 counties plan to attend an all-day July workshop focused on similar scenarios, including the potential presence of armed federal officers at voting sites.

President Donald Trump has been transparent regarding his desire to expand federal authority over elections, calling on his party to “take over” and “nationalise” voting in at least 15 locations. The administration has utilised executive orders and proposed legislation to require proof of citizenship to vote, allow federal agencies to compile voter registration lists, and mandate the use of a Homeland Security database to verify eligibility. The administration has also pushed for aggressive voter-roll purges, limits on mail-in voting, and has promoted claims about voting machines, while directing DHS and the Justice Department to intensify investigations of election fraud allegations.

“President Trump is committed to ensuring that Americans have full confidence in the administration of elections, and that includes totally accurate and up-to-date voter rolls free of errors and unlawfully registered non-citizen voters,” said White House Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson. “Noncitizens voting is a crime. Anyone breaking the law will be held accountable.”

The Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment. Conservative groups such as the Heritage Foundation have argued that voter fraud, including voting by non-citizens, poses a serious threat to U.S. elections. Courts and election-law scholars have stated these claims are unsupported by evidence. Nevertheless, Trump’s rhetoric has had an impact: a Reuters-Ipsos poll found that 63% of Republicans believe the 2020 vote was stolen and that a majority of Americans support voter-ID requirements.

Rather than seeking a sweeping federal takeover, the administration appears to be testing constitutional limits on a state-by-state basis. Minnesota’s secretary of state, Democrat Steve Simon, stated that states must prepare for the possibility “that our own federal government will interfere with the election, either directly or indirectly,” whether through federal agents at polling places, emergency executive action, or the seizure of election equipment.

Amy Burgans, the Republican clerk and treasurer of Douglas County, Nevada, said the prospect of federal enforcement is unsettling. “There is an intimidation factor,” she said, citing concerns about personal legal exposure. High-profile actions, including federal raids and record demands tied to the 2020 election, have heightened this anxiety. “It puts the question in the back of your mind,” she said. “Who’s going to be next?”

Reuters identified at least 20 current and former Trump officials who supported efforts to overturn the 2020 election or promoted voter-fraud claims and are now involved in the White House’s push to reshape federal elections. Some actions have drawn national attention, such as a January raid on election offices in Fulton County, Georgia. Others have occurred with less visibility, such as the collection of voter data in Franklin County, Ohio.

Nine election administrators—including five Republicans, two Democrats, and two independents—stated they feared the administration’s actions could open the door to intensified federal scrutiny of election results this November. While experts say elections are not necessarily destined to be overturned, attempts at tampering cannot be ruled out. “If the election turns on a few jurisdictions, states or counties where there are disputed races, then we’d be more likely to see attempts at subversion,” said Richard Hasen, an election-law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

The federal push has included battleground states, Democratic counties within Republican states, and areas supportive of Trump. Election-law experts suggest the strategy is less about a single takeover and more about identifying pressure points—probing voter rolls, seeking access to election machines, and searching for evidence of fraud—that could justify stricter rules or contesting outcomes if margins are narrow.

Even in conservative regions, the push into election administration has unsettled local officials. In Colorado, a lobbyist tied to the Trump administration made a series of calls to Republican election clerks last summer. Three clerks told Reuters that the lobbyist, Jeff Small, raised the possibility of White House partnerships and discussed access to voting machines. Carly Koppes, the president of the Colorado Clerks Association and a clerk in Weld County, said she spoke with Small and was aware of at least nine other counties he contacted.

Small previously served as a senior adviser to the interior secretary during Trump’s first administration and later worked as chief of staff to Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert. Small now works in Washington at a public-affairs and lobbying firm.

One person Small contacted was Steve Schleiker, the Republican clerk and recorder in El Paso County. Schleiker said Small phoned him, identifying himself as acting on behalf of the White House, and asked whether someone from the Department of Homeland Security could follow up. Schleiker agreed. Minutes later, Schleiker received a second call from a person claiming to be a senior official at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), seeking access to El Paso County’s voting machines. Schleiker refused, stating that granting access would violate Colorado law.

Small confirmed to Reuters that he had contacted Schleiker and other clerks but said the accounts contained inaccuracies. He denied that Schleiker received a call from a senior CISA official. Small did not respond to follow-up inquiries. The White House did not respond to questions about Small. DHS stated that Small “does not have any role with DHS and has never been formally authorised to conduct any official business for the department.”

In Ohio, federal agents have sought access to sensitive voter records as the state prepares for high-stakes midterm contests. White, the Franklin County elections director, said the agent who contacted his office stated he was coordinating with Ohio’s Republican secretary of state. White confirmed the request with the secretary of state’s office and complied. The secretary of state’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

In Franklin County, the agent collected unredacted registration and voting records for at least 50 voters, including signatures, addresses, and partial Social Security numbers. In a March 16 email to White’s office, the agent, who works for the Homeland Security Investigations division, also sought information about a local voter-registration group, calling it a “priority.”

White said his office turned over the records because “DHS is a law enforcement agency.” In his emails, the DHS agent told White’s staff he had been working with an unidentified prosecutor. The U.S. attorney’s office for southern Ohio said it would neither confirm nor deny any federal voter-fraud investigation.

Reuters found that Homeland Security agents have also sought records from at least five other Ohio counties. In February, three agents visited a vocational high school in Dayton to investigate an uncorroborated claim by a former student that, two years earlier, a voter registration organiser had improperly advised her on how to vote.

“I was incredulous,” said David Lawrence, the superintendent of Dayton Public Schools. Lawrence stated there was no evidence to support the allegation. “I asked them, ‘Why here, and why now?’” He said the agents told him voter fraud allegations were being prioritised. “They said, ‘We have agents everywhere. Every time we get these things, we investigate them.’”

These investigations mark a departure for DHS’s Homeland Security Investigations unit, which previously focused on transnational crimes such as money laundering, human trafficking, and terrorism. “Everything that HSI does is supposed to have some sort of immigration or border nexus,” said A. Scott Brown, a former supervisor at the agency who retired in 2023. “What are they pulling resources away from? An investigation of a child being exploited? Fentanyl being smuggled?”

In a statement, DHS defended the changes: “Under President Trump, HSI is committed to restoring integrity to our election systems and ensuring that American citizens and only American citizens are electing American leaders.”

Early in his term, Trump dismantled key election-security functions at CISA and reduced its budget and staff. Since Trump returned to power, CISA’s role has shifted. Several local election officials told Reuters they now struggle to obtain security assessments and have hired private contractors instead. Simultaneously, individuals who championed claims disputing the 2020 election have moved into positions of influence at DHS and CISA, including Marci McCarthy, who served as CISA’s director of public affairs. The administration also appointed Heather Honey, a proponent of debunked election fraud claims, to lead a new “Election Integrity” office within DHS.

DHS stated that CISA is “serving as the national coordinator for securing and protecting the nation’s critical infrastructure” and delivering “actionable cyber threat intelligence.”

Elsewhere, the administration is revisiting the 2020 election. On April 14, the Justice Department demanded that Michigan’s Wayne County turn over 2024 election records. State officials declined, citing the request as baseless. Last August in Nevada, the state’s then-acting U.S. attorney, Trump appointee Sigal Chattah, announced a wide-ranging investigation into alleged voter fraud focused on 2020. The FBI later contacted the office of Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar seeking information; Aguilar’s office informed the FBI the requested data did not exist. The FBI later closed the investigation without filing charges.

In Missouri, a senior Justice Department official, Andrew “Mac” Warner, contacted at least two county clerks seeking access to voting equipment and records. One clerk did not have the equipment, and the other refused access. Warner, who recently left the Justice Department, declined to comment.

In February, Missouri’s secretary of state, Denny Hoskins, disclosed that his office had shared voter-roll data with federal authorities to screen for citizenship. Federal officials returned a list of individuals flagged as potential non-citizens. However, clerks in several of Missouri’s largest counties, including St. Louis and St. Charles, said most individuals flagged were U.S. citizens, many of them naturalised. In Miller County, Republican clerk Clinton Jenkins said none of the people reviewed in his county had voted illegally. “It looks like if you have too many vowels in your name, you show up on a list,” Jenkins said.

The administration has now sued 30 states that have refused to turn over voter-roll information, citing state laws protecting confidentiality and constitutional prerogatives. West Virginia Secretary of State Kris Warner, a Republican, said he never expected to be battling his former boss over states’ rights. “One of the things that I campaigned on was fighting federal overreach,” Warner said. “I just didn’t have any idea at the time I was campaigning that it was going to be the Department of Justice demanding our voter files.”

Several election officials said the federal push has changed preparations for November. Some are turning to lawyers and drafting internal playbooks for dealing with federal warrants or demands for equipment. Carly Koppes, the clerk and recorder in Colorado’s Weld County, said she has trained staff to recognise FBI credentials and verify federal subpoenas. “It puts the question in the back of your mind,” she said. Security preparations in her office include a glass-breaking tool placed at windows should staff need to evacuate.

In La Plata County, Colorado, Clerk Tiffany Lee said she is receiving calls from residents asking if they must bring proof of citizenship to vote, or if they should remove themselves from the registration rolls. “I’ve done this 30 years,” Lee said. “I’ve never seen this level of fear.”

In Williamson County, Texas, elections administrator Bridgette Escobedo faced death threats in February after an edited video falsely suggested she had tampered with a ballot storage room. The threats required police protection and a temporary relocation from her home. Escobedo noted that the most difficult part was reassuring her staff. “Looking at my employees and telling them you don't need to be afraid,” she said.

State-by-state federal push overview:

• Arizona (Feb–Mar 2026): FBI subpoenaed the state Senate for records related to its 2020 election audit report; Homeland Security Investigations sought records from the prior attorney general’s 2020 fraud probe. Senate and attorney general complied.

• Ohio (Jan–Mar 2026): DHS sought and obtained voter records from at least six Ohio counties.

• Colorado (Summer 2025): White House-linked lobbyist contacted at least 10 county clerks; a caller identifying as a CISA official sought access to Dominion voting machines in El Paso County. Clerk refused access.

• Missouri (Sept 2025): Justice Department official contacted at least two county clerks seeking access to voting equipment. Clerks refused.

• Connecticut (Summer 2025): Justice Department official directed the state to investigate voter-fraud claims from a non-profit. Investigation ongoing.

• Nevada (Summer 2025): FBI sought voter records from the Secretary of State’s office. Records did not exist; probe closed.

• Georgia (Jan 2026): Federal law enforcement raided Fulton County for 2020 election records. Ballots and voter records seized.

• Michigan (April 2026): Justice Department demanded Wayne County turn over 2024 election records. State officials declined.

(With inputs from Reuters)