ProPublica investigation revealed DHS election-security official pushed to ban voting machines, questioned Democratic wins

On March 14, 2026, ProPublica reported that David Harvilicz, the DHS assistant secretary overseeing the security of the nation's federal election infrastructure — including voting machines — has publicly called for eliminating voting machines and has repeatedly questioned the validity of Democratic electoral victories. In a March social-media post, Harvilicz wrote that "DHS needs to ban voting machines for all federal elections. The time is now," describing the machines as "eminently vulnerable to exploitation," and he has separately pushed for Republicans to overhaul electoral systems to their advantage.

Harvilicz co-founded a company, Tranquility AI, with James Penrose, a former intelligence officer who helped advance debunked conspiracy theories blaming hacked voting machines for Donald Trump's 2020 loss and who participated in multiple attempts to clandestinely seize voting machines, including one in Michigan where prosecutors accused him of breaking into machines; he was not charged. Harvilicz's deputy, Heather Honey, previously led the Election Integrity Network, a conservative group that has challenged the legitimacy of American election systems, and worked closely with the network's leader, Cleta Mitchell, who helped Trump try to overturn his 2020 loss. Current and former DHS officials told ProPublica that Harvilicz and his team have also been deeply engaged in facilitating administration data-gathering efforts that scour state voter rolls for noncitizens, efforts that have incorrectly flagged hundreds of citizens as potential noncitizens.

Election experts and current and former DHS officials said Harvilicz's central role in overseeing election-system security is especially concerning given the administration's broader campaign to relitigate Trump's baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen. Danielle Lang of the Campaign Legal Center said placing someone with Harvilicz's background "in charge of policies affecting election security can undermine public confidence in our elections at a time when trust is already fragile." A current DHS official told ProPublica that Harvilicz would be well positioned to help the administration gain control of voting machines after an election, "if they don't like the results." DHS did not answer detailed questions about Harvilicz or his team, saying only that its employees "are focused on keeping our elections safe, secure, and free."