Trump initiative to show voter fraud appears to have stalled

ATLANTA — President Trump hasn’t backed away from his unsubstantiated claim that millions of illegally cast ballots cost him the popular vote in 2016, but his efforts to investigate it appear to have stalled.

He transferred the work of the commission investigating his claim to the Department of Homeland Security. But the department’s top official has made it clear that, when it comes to elections, her focus is on safeguarding state and local voting systems from cyberattacks and other manipulation.

While the U.S. Department of Justice has broad authority to investigate voter fraud claims, White House officials said previously that Homeland Security was the best agency to take over the work of the now-disbanded Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity.

The end of the commission is welcome news to voting rights advocates concerned that its ultimate goal was to promote voter-suppression efforts.

The White House announcement dissolving the commission said Trump had “asked the Department of Homeland Security to review its initial findings and determine next courses of action.” But the director of White House Information Technology, Charles Herndon, said in recent court documents that the commission did not create any preliminary findings before it was disbanded.

Last week, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen testified that her agency views cybersecurity as its top electionrelated priority. She called voter fraud a “large topic” that covers various federal agencies.

Last year, Homeland Security designated election systems as “critical infrastructure,” on par with the electrical grid and water supply, and a 27-member council was formed with representatives from federal, state and local governments. A key priority has been establishing a process for sharing intelligence.

When asked whether the department intends to investigate claims of voter fraud, spokesman Tyler Houlton said in an email that it is working with a “limited number” of states and counties that wish to verify the citizenship status of voters through a program managed by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.