Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for our free weekly newsletter to get the latest.A coalition of Democratic states and officials has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security arguing that Federal Emergency Management Agency funding is being withheld as leverage to coerce the states into complying with President Donald Trump’s preferred elections and immigration policies.The states say the department is requiring recipients of the Homeland Security Grant Program — one of FEMA’s largest grants, which can be used for preparation for and response to terrorist and other security threats — to switch to voting systems that employ hand-marked paper ballots, to conduct manual audits of election results, and use a controversial DHS program to identify noncitizens on their voter rolls. “The Constitution grants the States the power to administer and set the rules governing federal elections, and pursuant to that grant of authority the States have adopted a range of systems for ensuring that votes are counted fairly and accurately,” the lawsuit says. “Defendants, however, seek to upend those laws and policies and—using hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds as a cudgel—impose the current Administration’s preferred policies in their place.”The suit is being led by Illinois, which is joined by California, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, and the District of Columbia. The Trump administration has been pressuring states to tighten their election laws and run their voter rolls through the DHS program in question — known as Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE — ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. However, several states that have used the program to identify potential noncitizen voters have found it is prone to false positives.In a statement, a spokesperson for FEMA said it was “nothing new” that these Democratic leaders “oppose common-sense measures” on election security. “Election security is national security, and protecting our critical infrastructure remains a top priority for the Trump Administration,” the statement said. “This year, states must take critical, common-sense steps to protect U.S. elections before receiving their full Homeland Security Grant Program awards. These new requirements will preserve election integrity.”The suit alleges that the department’s threat to withhold 20% of Homeland Security Grant Program funds if states don’t meet the election-related conditions means the plaintiff states would lose out on at least $148 million already allocated to them.“Donald Trump is actively threatening the safety of our communities and withholding resources from our law enforcement officers and first responders in an effort to seize control of our election system,” Shapiro said in a statement Thursday. “Withholding this funding would be dangerous under any circumstance, but to do so in an attempt to control our elections is a new low — even for Donald Trump.”At a recent gathering of state election officials, Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas, who also serves in a leadership position with the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State, said the threat to withhold funding wouldn’t have an immediate effect on the midterm election, since planning for elections takes place months and years ahead of time.However, “if you believe that there are threats against our elections and if you believe the way to secure our elections is to protect against foreign influence, why are you not funding the people who need to be protecting the election systems?” she asked. “It kind of feels like you’re undermining the people who need to do the work.”The lawsuit isn’t the first time these states have sued the administration over its attempt to shape election policy. In April, the same coalition — minus Hawaii and Kentucky’s Beshear — sued the administration over Trump’s executive order seeking to impose new regulations on mail voting. Aaron Blacksberg, federal policy counsel at the Institute for Responsive Government, said he didn’t think the federal government would succeed in withholding the money from the states.“Courts don’t tend to like these kinds of conditions being imposed when there’s no clear statutory authority to do so,” he said.The case is being heard by Rhode Island District Judge Mary Susan McElroy. The Trump administration has not yet filed a response. Jessica Huseman and Dion Nissenbaum contributed reporting.Carter Walker is a reporter for Votebeat in partnership with Spotlight PA. Contact Carter at cwalker@votebeat.org.
