The secretary indicated that the scope of the review could continue expanding as additional states provide information from their voter rolls.
“This list is only growing, by the way.”
“This list is continuing to be compiled by states of their own public voting registers,” Mullin added. “So we’re going through and we’re scrubbing them, we’re comparing them with those that are in the country, those that are legal permanent residents.”
The process is designed to determine whether noncitizens appearing in voting records were legally eligible to participate and whether sufficient evidence exists to pursue an enforcement action.
Federal prosecutors have also recently announced a new group of election-related cases. The Justice Department said Friday that 16 defendants across seven states had been charged with alleged crimes involving illegal voting or related conduct. Prosecutors stressed that the charges are allegations and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Some cases involve allegations that noncitizens falsely represented themselves as American citizens, while others include additional accusations involving identification documents, naturalization applications or other federal offenses.
For Mullin, the widening investigation bolsters the administration’s argument that authorities should aggressively examine allegations of illegal participation in American elections.
“The president was right when he said there was a tremendous amount of fraud in the election,” Mullin said.
“We continue to see that. Every single vote that we talk about that was at the hands of an illegal canceled out a citizen that was legally registered and able to vote.”
Mullin’s statement is the administration’s characterization of the significance of the cases; the number of suspected cases being reviewed does not by itself establish how many illegal ballots were ultimately cast or whether any such ballots affected an election outcome.
The enforcement push comes just weeks before the 2026 midterm elections, with the Trump administration making noncitizen voting one component of its broader election-integrity agenda.
DHS had already signaled a tougher approach earlier this summer.
In June, the department directed Immigration and Customs Enforcement to pursue immigration consequences against noncitizens who illegally participate in American elections, including deportation where authorized by federal law. The guidance also covers certain false claims of U.S. citizenship.
Under provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act cited by DHS, a noncitizen who illegally votes can potentially face removal proceedings. DHS says those provisions can also apply to some people who are otherwise lawfully present in the United States, and a criminal conviction is not necessarily required before immigration authorities pursue removal under the cited provisions.
DHS General Counsel James Percival framed the policy as a protection of citizens’ voting rights.
“The importance of free, fair, and honest elections is without question. Echoing the words of President Trump, ‘the right of American citizens to have their votes properly counted and tabulated, without illegal dilution, is vital to determining the rightful winner of an election,’” Percival said.
He followed with an unmistakable warning about the administration’s enforcement posture.
“Illegal voting by aliens dilutes the votes of American citizens and undermines our democracy. It must have consequences.”
The latest figures suggest that federal authorities are moving beyond policy directives and into a substantial investigative phase.
With 151 arrests reported, 1,620 open cases and hundreds of thousands of additional records or suspected cases undergoing review, DHS officials say their work is far from finished. At the same time, those figures cover different stages of the investigative process: an individual under review has not necessarily committed an offense, and an arrest does not itself establish guilt.
For the administration, however, the message heading toward November is straightforward: allegations involving noncitizens illegally casting ballots will receive federal scrutiny, and cases supported by evidence could carry consequences extending well beyond ordinary criminal prosecution.
