ICE Plans $5 Million National Voter Database
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is creating a database to investigate alleged voter fraud.
1Project Details
ICE plans to create a national voter database through a contract worth up to $5 million. The contract includes collecting publicly available voter registration files and election history data. These records will support ICE's fraud detection and data segmentation activities. Initially, data will be collected from specific states, but the winning contractor must have the capability to gather data from all 50 states.
2Data Scope
ICE is requesting election history data for federal elections, including general, primary, runoff, and special elections. Public voter registration records and, in most cases, election history data will be collected according to each state's rules. This data may include party affiliation information. Experts warn that this could violate the privacy rights of U.S. voters.
3Contract Terms
The contract document states that the contractor will not be asked to collect or share voters' party affiliation data unless explicitly directed in writing by contracting officer Michael Royer. Royer is the section chief at Homeland Security Investigations, ICE's investigative unit. ICE and DHS declined to comment on the matter.
4Cost and Timeline
ICE revealed in a document published on Monday that the contract will be worth between $2 million and $5 million. The final contract is expected to be published next Monday and awarded soon after, as it expires on September 30. This project is seen as part of the Trump administration's efforts to undermine trust in the upcoming midterm elections.
5State Pushback
DHS has demanded that states hand over unredacted voter rolls, but states and courts have resisted these demands. DHS has also threatened to withhold emergency preparedness and counterterrorism funding from states that refuse to implement White House election policies. Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers called DHS's plans a 'joke,' emphasizing that elections are a state matter.
6Previous Similar Efforts
This is not ICE's first contract to investigate alleged voter fraud. In July, it was reported that ICE was set to pay Thomson Reuters $125 million for access to its CLEAR database. In June, ICE agents obtained individual voter rolls from election officials in two counties in Texas and North Carolina.
7Data Collection Strategy
Last year, WIRED reported that DHS was building a master database using data from the Social Security Administration, the IRS, and voting data from Pennsylvania and Florida. A senior DHS official stated that this data collection effort had nothing to do with fraud detection but involved cross-referencing immigration data with SSA and IRS records.
8Impacts and Concerns
Experts warn that such databases could violate voters' privacy and be used for political purposes. DHS's pressure on states to investigate alleged voter fraud has raised concerns, particularly among minority communities. These initiatives are fueling debates about election security and transparency ahead of the 2024 elections.
Original article: Wired — ICE 5 Milyon Dolara Ulusal Seçmen Veritabanı Oluşturuyor