Trump signed an executive order in March that said the United States lacks election security and called for the enforcement of a prohibition on foreign nationals voting in federal elections. It also orders the attorney general and secretary of Homeland Security to “prevent all noncitizens from being involved in the administration of any federal election, including by accessing election equipment, ballots, or any other relevant materials used in the conduct of any federal election.”

“The president’s executive order speaks for itself, and the Department of Justice will leave no option off the table when it comes to promoting free, fair, and secure elections,” DOJ spokesman Gates McGavick told the Washington Examiner.

Charging election officials federally is a rare step, and considering charges against election officials could add additional pressure to the officials to do their jobs to the administration’s standards.

Local and state officials aren’t usually watched closely by the federal government. But the Trump administration could change that.

“The tactics we’re seeing out of DOJ right now are building on what we’ve seen from anti-democracy groups for years,” Dax Goldstein, program director of election protection at the States United Democracy Center, told the New York Times. “They’re rooted in the same lies about elections, and they’re all meant to create noise and fear and concerns about issues with our elections that just don’t exist. Our elections are safe and secure, and election officials are working to keep them that way.”

The New York Times reported that senior officials have directed DOJ lawyers to examine how a failure by state or local officials to follow security standards for electronic voting could be charged as a crime. The lawyers have reportedly struggled to find a statute to match the Trump administration’s demands concerning election officials.

The DOJ has been contacting election officials across the country for information about voting in their states, including in Wisconsin.

Ann Jacobs, Democratic chairwoman of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, told the New York Times she is confident in the state’s systems.

“Any analysis of our system would reassure the investigators of the security of our system,” she said, though she added, “We’re certainly happy to answer any questions that DOJ has on this. It’s my hope that they, while finding reassurance in our systems, recognize that coming into an investigation with a threat of prosecution tends to be the worst way to handle these matters.”

Trump’s concern about elections carried into his most recent win against former Vice President Kamala Harris.

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Trump said when he was running for his second term in 2024 that election officials “involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country.” The 2024 election, he added, “will be under the closest professional scrutiny and, WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again.”

Kaelan Deese contributed to this article.