Missouri voter fraud probe ramps up as Trump claims face scrutiny

Jack Harvel, The Kansas City Star on Sep 3, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Homeland Security Investigations is stepping up a voter fraud investigation in Missouri ahead of the November elections, seeking evidence to support President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud.

On Monday, CNN reported that Homeland Security Investigations, an arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, would ramp up voter fraud investigations in Missouri, Washington, Wisconsin, Georgia, California, Pennsylvania, Nevada, New York and Connecticut.

CNN cited internal guidance describing the effort as a “coordinated criminal voter fraud surge initiative to pursue investigative leads, conduct field interviews, and support timely prosecutorial review.”

In an unsigned email, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the department could not comment on active investigations but reinforced its commitment to charging and deporting undocumented immigrants who have unlawfully voted.

“We have repeatedly demonstrated that illegal aliens can and do vote in our elections,” the spokesperson said. “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.”

Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins said in a statement that he welcomed the investigation but did not say whether he will be involved with the operation.

“The DOJ and DHS remain welcome partners. By virtue of their authority, they have tools and resources available to them that we don’t. I stand ready to assist them with any investigation to secure our elections and prosecute fraudulent activity,” Hoskins said.

Historically, very few noncitizens have voted in U.S. elections. Patricia Jones Macklin, an election protection volunteer with the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition, said she’s seen little that convinces her that voter fraud is a common issue.

“I don’t think people who are going to commit fraud are going to stand in lines, come to the polling place, go in there knowing that you are committing a crime and try to vote,” Macklin said.

The Heritage Foundation’s voter fraud database, a nationwide registry of voter fraud convictions, records 100 instances of noncitizen voting since 2000.

The database lists 30 known cases of voter fraud in Missouri since 2000. All but one case refers to people who voted while having a criminal conviction, and the database lists no reported cases of noncitizen voting.

Are noncitizens voting?

The DHS spokesperson cited three cases in which a Homeland Security investigation led to the arrests of people who unlawfully voted. Trump has repeatedly said that large numbers of undocumented immigrants are voting but so far has not produced evidence that the practice is anything but exceedingly rare.

The Homeland Security spokesperson indicated there would be more to the investigations, saying officials had identified more than 24,000 potential noncitizens who had been referred to Homeland Security Investigations.

The spokesperson also praised the SAVE America Act, legislation that would require Americans to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote. Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with congressional Republicans for failing to pass the bill.

DHS has touted inflated numbers of suspected illegal immigrants on voter rolls in the past. In July, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin sent letters to the secretaries of state in California, Nevada, New Jersey and Pennsylvania alleging there were over 250,000 undocumented immigrants registered to vote across the four states.

But in Nevada, after back-and-forth discussion with state officials, DHS said its flagging of 16,000 potential noncitizens was “the ceiling” and needed further review. It provided Nevada officials with a list of 185 voter ID numbers for people DHS said it was confident were noncitizens.

Casting doubt on elections?

Macklin, who has helped register people to vote in the Kansas City area for more than 20 years, said noncitizens are not eager to risk committing a crime to vote.

“The non-citizens, I’m telling you, the people are so scared,” Macklin said. “They’re really scared now to put their name on anything because they may be deported.”

She views the investigation as an effort to sow doubt about the electoral system and paint it as easy to exploit.

“I think this is just part of the plan to create doubt about the voting system, which I don’t think is broken,” Macklin said. “If I register you, the election board is gonna check it, and they’re gonna know they have the list of who’s eligible to vote.”