Federal agents under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may have violated state laws while investigating unlawfully registered voters, according to a whistleblower’s report. This report has been shared with Democratic U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla of California, and made public by Padilla and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.
Last month, DHS began the Unlawful Voter Initiative, deploying personnel to scrutinize voter rolls. Agents reportedly used personally identifiable information (PII) to access voter history on state websites, an action potentially in violation of state statutes requiring accurate attestations.
“Employees may be required to use the PII to make false attestations that they are the voter or are acting with the voter’s express authorization, in order to access these individual voters’ records,” the report reads.
The whistleblower suggested that thousands of state law violations might have occurred under DHS leadership’s direction. For example, Virginia requires an attestation that could have been repeatedly violated.
DHS has yet to respond to requests for comment. Legal guidance from DHS’ Office of Chief Counsel reportedly allowed the use of state voter websites for investigatory purposes.
First reported by the New York Times, the whistleblower’s concerns were supported by training materials indicating a possible misuse of inconsistent voter data. Officers were reportedly required to review five subjects per hour, with the task of determining each subject’s citizenship status in just twelve minutes.
This investigation aligns with the Trump administration’s efforts to locate noncitizens on voter rolls, despite previous audits revealing such incidences as rare.
Padilla and Schumer, in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and USCIS Director Joseph Edlow, urged the initiative’s cessation. They warned against unreliable data causing wrongful disenfranchisement or election disruption.