Officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration last year explored plans to block voting machines used in more than half of American states, citing election-fraud claims that have repeatedly been disproven, according to sources familiar with the discussions.
The proposal reportedly centred on whether the US Commerce Department could classify components used in Dominion Voting Systems machines as potential national-security threats.
The effort was driven by White House adviser Kurt Olsen, a lawyer closely associated with Trump’s long-running claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged despite courts and investigations finding no evidence of widespread fraud.
Sources said the discussions formed part of broader internal conversations among administration officials about increasing federal control over elections, powers that are traditionally managed by individual states under the US Constitution.
Olsen reportedly advocated replacing electronic voting systems with a nationwide system of hand-counted paper ballots, a proposal Trump has repeatedly supported. Election security specialists have argued that existing systems which combine electronic tabulation with paper audit trails are generally more reliable and secure.
According to multiple sources, the proposal advanced far enough that Commerce Department officials in September began examining whether legal grounds existed to justify restrictions on Dominion machines. The initiative later stalled after officials involved failed to produce evidence supporting claims that the machines posed a security threat.
The episode highlights a wider push by the Trump administration to challenge state authority over election administration ahead of the US midterm elections. Reuters previously reported that officials in several states had sought access to voting equipment, reopened voter-fraud investigations previously dismissed by courts, and requested confidential election records.
Sources said Olsen’s objective was to sideline Dominion machines before the upcoming midterms. Others reportedly involved in the discussions included Paul McNamara, an aide to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Brian Sikma, a White House adviser attached to Trump’s Domestic Policy Council.
McNamara, who previously led an intelligence task force examining voting machine vulnerabilities, allegedly approached Commerce Department officials about whether Dominion software and chips could be designated security risks.
Reuters said it could not confirm whether Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was directly aware of the discussions. A department spokesperson denied Lutnick had participated in any election-related deliberations.
Neither Olsen, McNamara nor Sikma responded to requests for comment.
Democrats and election integrity advocates have raised concerns that the administration’s actions could undermine confidence in elections and create grounds to dispute unfavourable results using unsubstantiated fraud allegations.
The US Election Assistance Commission said more than 98 percent of voting jurisdictions already produce paper records for ballots cast, either through machine generated printouts or hand-marked ballots scanned electronically. Many election-security experts continue to support the current system because it allows audits and recounts using voter-verified paper records.
Critics of hand-counted ballots argue that manual counting can introduce human error and increase opportunities for ballot tampering. University of Michigan computer-science professor Alex Halderman warned that moving entirely to hand counting could create confusion and increase risks of manipulation.
A White House spokesperson dismissed the Reuters report as misleading and based on selective leaks, while a representative for Gabbard’s office described aspects of the report as inaccurate.
The discussions also revived long-discredited allegations that Dominion voting systems were linked to Venezuela and had been used to manipulate the 2020 election. Multiple investigations, audits and court cases have found no evidence supporting those claims.
In 2023, Fox News agreed to pay Dominion $787 million to settle a defamation lawsuit tied to false election-rigging allegations aired after the 2020 election.
Dominion machines remained widely used across the United States in 2024, with at least 27 states relying on the systems. The Denver-based company was later acquired by Liberty Vote USA, a Colorado-based firm.
Reuters also reported that members of Olsen’s team examined voting machines seized in Puerto Rico during a federal operation linked to the island’s 2024 gubernatorial election. Analysts reportedly found some previously known software vulnerabilities but uncovered no evidence of Venezuelan code or election hacking.
Sources added that officials inspecting the machines discovered components packaged in countries including China, Japan, South Korea and Malaysia. One chip was reportedly packaged in China by US technology company Intel, though such components are not generally considered national-security threats.
A later White House meeting involving National Security Council cyber experts reportedly discussed whether Dominion systems contained traces of Venezuelan linked software. Despite subsequent internal reviews, Commerce Department officials ultimately took no action against the machines.
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