NEW: The Trump administration is threatening to withhold tens of millions of dollars in federal homeland security funds from states unless they adopt a sweeping set of election changes, meant to go into effect just before the Midterm Elections. 

Under new rules governing several homeland security grant programs, states must take several steps, including phasing out certain electronic voting systems and moving to hand-marked paper ballots. They must also run their voter rolls through a controversial Department of Homeland Security database for citizenship verification. 

"This year alone, they're set to deliver about $1 billion out to states. It is one of the key tools that the federal government has to help cities and states prepare for terror attacks, cybersecurity incidents, and major disasters — cities and states consider this really critical funding,” said Gabe Cohen. 

“Well, now, what the administration is saying is, if you want all of that funding, you're going to have to implement these mandatory election changes; otherwise, you're going to have to forfeit 20% of your grants, which could, for a lot of places, mean millions of dollars gone."