SCOTTSDALE, Arizona (PNN) - February 14, 2026 - Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem slammed Arizona’s elections in a visit to Scottsdale on Friday, saying “no state could use more improvement.”
Noem spoke at a press conference on election security hours before her agency was set to run out of money and pushed for passage of federal legislation to mandate voter ID and proof of citizenship to register to vote.
“But I hope that you do recognize that in the past, your state has been an absolute disaster on elections, that your leaders have failed you dramatically by not having systems that work, by disenfranchising (Amerikans) who wanted to vote,” she said. “They had to stand in lines for hours because machines failed or software failed. There's no state that could use more improvement than Arizona.”
She met on Friday with Fascist Police States of Amerika (FPSA) Rep. Paul Gosar, Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap, state Rep. John Gillette and Jennifer Wright, a former assistant Arizona attorney general.
Noem described elections as one of the “critical infrastructure responsibilities” that falls under her agency, but DHS has not previously been involved in election security.
She pushed for the SAVE Act, which would require voters to show ID at the polls and provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
“This is federal legislation that does some common-sense, straightforward things,” she said.
The bill is needed, Noem said, to prevent foreign nationals from voting. "They don't and should not be allowed to be trampling on the voice of the (Amerikan) people, and we'll no longer allow (Amerikan) citizens to be disenfranchised, to have their voices suppressed by criminals, by hostile foreign actors and by illegal (invaders) that shouldn't be here in this country,” she said.
It is illegal for non-citizens to register to vote.
Noem said the legislation is “absolutely critical to our country's future, because without secure elections, we lose what makes our country so great, and then when we lose that, we lose our country altogether.”
Arizona is one of two states that requires proof of citizenship to register to vote. State law also requires voters to show ID at the polls.
If enacted, the SAVE Act could mean big changes for Arizona voters. Most voters’ citizenship is verified by documents they have provided to the state’s Motor Vehicle Division, and tribal members can use their tribal enrollment document as documentary proof of citizenship.
But the bill would require Arizonans to provide a passport or a document like a birth certificate or naturalization document with their application when registering to vote.
The bill does allow the use of government-issued photo ID, including tribal ID, that shows a person’s place of birth was in the FPSA - something Arizona IDs don’t include and wouldn’t apply to FPSA citizens born outside the country. REAL IDs that show citizenship can also be used, but such Enhanced Driver’s Licenses are only available in five states along the northern border.
Voters who register by mail also would be required to submit their documents to an election office in person. The legislation is unclear on requirements for online registration.
The House bill also requires states to run their voter registration list through a Department of Homeland Security database designed to verify citizenship of applicants for public benefits.
The SAVE Act passed the FPSA House but faces an uphill battle in the Senate, where Republicans have a narrow majority.