David Harvilicz Desires to Ban All Voting Machines for Federal Elections — ProPublica

In his high put up on the Division of Homeland Safety, David Harvilicz units coverage on defending the nation’s elections infrastructure, together with voting machines.

He’s additionally the co-founder of an organization with James Penrose, who helped hatch debunked conspiracy theories blaming hacked voting machines for Donald Trump’s loss within the 2020 presidential election. Penrose assisted in a push to grab voting machines to overturn Trump’s defeat.

On social media, Harvilicz has known as for getting rid of voting machines, saying they’re “eminently weak to exploitation.” In a March put up, he wrote that “DHS must ban voting machines for all federal elections. The time is now.” He additionally has repeatedly questioned the validity of Democratic electoral victories and pushed for Republicans to overtake electoral programs to their benefit.

Election specialists in addition to present and former DHS officers say Harvilicz’s central function in overseeing the safety of electoral programs and voting machines is very regarding at a time when the administration is taking unprecedented steps to relitigate Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen. That features the FBI’s seizure of 2020 voting information from Fulton County, Georgia, and having a group working for Tulsi Gabbard, the director of nationwide intelligence, take custody of voting machines utilized in Puerto Rico in 2020.

“The safety of our election infrastructure is determined by management that’s trusted, neutral and grounded in proof — not people who’ve promoted conspiracy theories concerning the very programs they’re now accountable for defending,” mentioned Danielle Lang, vp for voting rights and the rule of regulation on the Marketing campaign Authorized Heart, a nonpartisan pro-democracy group. “Inserting somebody with that background in control of insurance policies affecting election safety can undermine public confidence in our elections at a time when belief is already fragile.”

DHS didn’t reply detailed questions on Harvilicz or his group, offering a extra normal assertion concerning the work accomplished by the company. “DHS and its workers are centered on protecting our elections secure, safe, and free,” it mentioned. “Each single day appointees on the Division of Homeland Safety work to implement the President’s insurance policies and preserve our Homeland secure.”

Harvilicz didn’t reply to questions on his DHS function. Harvilicz’s X account notes his put up as DHS’ assistant secretary for cyber, infrastructure, threat and resilience coverage however says he’s been detailed to the Protection Division. (Such momentary assignments are usually accomplished in 120-day increments.)

Harvilicz was appointed to the DHS job round July, taking over a task that previously has largely centered on shaping coverage to guard the nation’s important infrastructure, together with its election programs.

However present and former DHS officers say Harvilicz and his group have reworked their capabilities to develop into extra hands-on. They’ve been deeply engaged with facilitating a number of administration data-gathering efforts aimed toward scouring voter rolls for noncitizens, the officers mentioned. ProPublica has reported on one such effort, which has led to lots of of residents being incorrectly flagged as potential noncitizens.

Harvilicz’s group contains Heather Honey, the deputy assistant secretary of election integrity. ProPublica has reported that Honey was beforehand a chief within the Election Integrity Community, a conservative group that has challenged the legitimacy of American election programs. Honey labored carefully with Cleta Mitchell, the community’s chief, who performed a outstanding function in serving to Trump attempt to overturn his 2020 loss.

Additionally reporting on to Harvilicz is Samantha Anderson, an information specialist who beforehand labored to elect Trump by means of the advocacy arm of the America First Coverage Institute, a suppose tank carefully related to the president.

A number of officers and elections specialists mentioned they have been anxious that Harvilicz and Honey would have outstanding components in assessing and describing the cybersecurity of the approaching election, each to the general public and to administration leaders. In addition they expressed concern that if Trump once more needed to get management of voting machines after the election, maybe if Republicans lose seats within the midterms, that Harvilicz is ideally positioned to assist them accomplish that.

“It might be tremendous simple for them to get the voting machines,” a present DHS official mentioned, including they’ll “describe it as they need, in the event that they don’t just like the outcomes.”

Harvilicz co-founded Tranquility AI, which has developed a man-made intelligence instrument for regulation enforcement, with Penrose, and they’re listed on its 2025 patents as creating its programs collectively.

Penrose, a former intelligence officer, performed a number one function within the marketing campaign to assist Trump in his failed bid to overturn the 2020 election, ProPublica has reported. Penrose additionally participated in a number of makes an attempt to clandestinely seize voting machines, together with in Michigan, the place prosecutors accused him of breaking into a few of the machines. (Penrose wasn’t charged within the case.) He gave the impression to be an unindicted co-conspirator within the failed Georgia prosecution by which Trump was accused of conspiring to overturn the election outcomes, in accordance with The Washington Submit.

Penrose didn’t reply to a request for remark for this text.

One of many purported makes use of of Tranquility AI’s product is for “election integrity,” in accordance with the corporate’s web site. It didn’t present extra particulars in response to a query from ProPublica.

Tranquility AI’s instruments, which assist regulation enforcement brokers course of knowledge and assemble instances, have been employed by New Orleans’ district lawyer, and the firm says it has partnered with dozens of regulation enforcement businesses nationwide. In July 2025, a big authorities IT contractor introduced a partnership with Tranquility AI.

Harvilicz began his profession working at regulation companies on Wall Road and in tech. Then, in 2004, when he was 29, he launched a shedding bid for a Maryland congressional seat. After that, he helped lead a crowdfunding firm, a film advertising enterprise, a movie manufacturing enterprise that labored with former intelligence officers and several other cyber safety ventures (together with one at which he labored with Penrose). He additionally did a stint within the first Trump administration, serving as cybersecurity official within the Division of Vitality.

Upfront of Harvilicz getting the DHS place, Tranquility AI made a $100,000 donation to Trump’s inaugural fund by means of a newly created nonprofit based mostly at Harvilicz’s house tackle, in accordance with The Intercept. In response to questions from The Intercept, Harvilicz mentioned the donation was designed to assist them meet administration policymakers. The Intercept first reported his ties to Penrose in reference to the donation.

Harvilicz has posted prolifically to social media, sharing lots of of posts of conservative content material. After Trump gained a second presidential time period, he wrote: “We’ll now dismantle the close to communist takeover of America and return her to greatness.”

In 2020, Harvilicz bought a $3.3 million house exterior of Los Angeles.

After the Palisades Hearth destroyed it across the starting of Trump’s second time period, Harvilicz stood on a roadside to greet the president’s tour of the catastrophe space along with his younger son on his shoulders. His son held aloft an image of a bloodied Trump punching the air after surviving an murderer’s bullet.

Even then, elections weren’t removed from his thoughts. He instructed a reporter for the Los Angeles Occasions that he supported Trump making catastrophe support conditional on the Democratic state implementing voter ID.

“I hope he noticed us,” Harvilicz instructed the Occasions reporter.