Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Friday said he plans to tie certain grant funding to whether states decide to participate in the agency’s election integrity program. Mullin appeared at a press conference to announce the initiative, among other measures that he said are designed “to make sure that the American people can trust our voting system.” The briefing was aimed at tackling concerns President Donald Trump raised during an address the previous evening, warning that intelligence indicates the United States’s election process is vulnerable to interference from foreign entities, particularly China.Mullin said that 23 states so far are participating in DHS’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system, which he said seeks to ensure voting machines are secured and allows officials to “proactively check” voter rolls for errors, such as containing noncitizens or deceased residents. The secretary questioned why other blue states have declined to sign on to the program, which is being debated in court, and said he is working with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to withhold Homeland Security Grant Program funding from states not participating in SAVE until they agree to do so.