EXCLUSIVE: Incentive Proposed to Enable Homeland Security to Vet Voter Rolls

States may soon be strongly encouraged to send their voter registration lists for vetting through a key Homeland Security program.

The “Election Security Partnership Act” was introduced by Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to provide more grant funding for states that turn over their voter rolls to DHS in order to vet for non-citizens that may be registered, Townhall exclusively learned on Tuesday.

“It goes without saying that U.S. elections MUST be reserved for U.S. citizens, and Tennessee is ranked #1 in election integrity because we cleaned up our voter rolls and require voter ID,” Blackburn stated.

Twenty-six states currently participate, or are planning to participate, in a partnership with the federal government on the issue, which uses the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program for the review process. 

Specifically, the bill stated that additional “2026 election security grant” funds could go toward “activities to improve the administration of elections for Federal office, including to enhance election technology and make election security improvements.”

Blackburn added that there’s significant interest among Americans for Congress to take further steps on election integrity issues. 

“I will not rest until we pass election integrity measures in any way possible, which is why I am introducing the Election Security Partnership Act to ensure every state is using the SAVE program and following Tennessee’s lead to restore faith in America’s elections,” she continued. 

Graham, who chairs the powerful Senate Budget Committee, stated that “Democrat-led states across the country have failed to enact common-sense election integrity measures to combat fraud and cheating.”

“After millions of illegal aliens invaded our country during the Biden years, Americans want to know that only U.S. citizens are voting in our elections,” he continued. 

The proposed legislation aligns with an Executive Order from President Donald Trump in March seeking more stringent actions on enforcing federal election laws. 

Trump’s order notes how the SAVE program “can assist in verifying identity and Federal election voter eligibility.”

The order garnered pushback from dozens of Senate Democrats, who sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on April 29 arguing that the SAVE program is not equipped to properly handle “voter roll maintenance” over potentially incorrect information in the system, which can lead to people being “flagged as non-citizens.”

“The foreseeable result is that tens of thousands of eligible U.S. citizen voters will discover on Election Day that they are barred from voting because they have been incorrectly removed from voter rolls,” the letter from the Democrats, including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, stated at the time. 

The proposed bill also comes as many Republicans continue to push for the passage of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, which most notably requires documentary proof of citizenship at the time of voter registration. 

The SAVE America Act has passed the House of Representatives, but struggles to make it out of the Senate despite being a major legislative priority of the president.