Whistleblower Alleges DHS Breaking State Laws In Voter Roll Investigations [Op-Ed]

In today’s news that’s surprising to no one who’s been paying attention, a whistleblower alleges that Department of Homeland Security investigators may have broken state laws in their attempts to investigate voter rolls. 

According to the New York Times, the whistleblower’s report details what the Department of Homeland Security is calling the “Unlawful Voter Initiative.” The whistleblower alleged that the Department is requiring investigators to hit a quota of at least 40 voters a day, and raised concerns that the pace prevents them from doing proper investigations. The whistleblower added that the initiative has likely incorrectly flagged U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote. 

Democracy Defenders Fund, which helped produce the report, said the whistleblower has remained anonymous due to “an extreme fear of retaliation, but they feel an obligation to speak up about the misconduct and gross mismanagement they have witnessed.”

From the New York Times:

The whistleblower also questioned the legality of a crucial part of the operation, with investigators effectively posing as individual voters by using personally identifiable information compiled from both internal and external sources, such as birth dates or partial Social Security numbers, to look up voter records.

The agents plugged those names and personal data into public-facing state websites to find a subject’s voter history. Some states, such as Virginia, declare explicitly that only individual voters may use the search tool to look up their own records. Others, such as California, require specific information such as a driver’s license number or partial Social Security number in an effort to limit the use of the tool to individuals.

“I do think the American people value keeping their personal information private,” Mr. Padilla said. “The other thing that’s concerning here, that the American people who would be offended by, is the knowing inaccuracy of what they’re doing, whether it’s the data or their sham analysis. It’s going to produce false positives.”

The 30-page report was submitted to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.). The senators sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin demanding that the operation be halted and that Mullin answer a dozen specific questions. They included the whistleblower’s report with the letter. 

“This is just the latest example of how far Donald Trump will go to interfere in our elections,” Schumer said in an interview. “We’ve never seen anything quite like this. They come up with so many different ways to try and steal the election, to try and jaundice the election, but we’ve never seen anything quite like this. Department of Homeland Security is actually pulling away these law officers, these federal law enforcement officers, away from the work they’re supposed to do.”

The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement in response to the whistleblower’s report. “Our message to aliens who vote in American elections is clear: we will find you, arrest you, and you will face the consequences — including criminal charges and deportation,” the statement read. 

Do you ever stop to think about how much of our taxpayer dollars fund an unnecessary war and an investigation into an issue with little evidence? Gotta love the so-called party of fiscal responsibility. 

Since his 2020 election loss, President Donald Trump has consistently claimed that there is rampant voter fraud in U.S. elections, but has yet to produce any tangible evidence showing that is the case. Data have shown that illegal voting is an incredibly rare occurrence, but Trump would rather push a lie than accept the truth that he and the Republican Party are deeply unpopular and will likely lose in the midterms due to their own incompetence. 

SEE ALSO:

SCOTUS Upholds Block On Trump’s Mail-In Voting Executive Order [Op-Ed]

Vote Safe Website Is A Scheme Todd Set Up. Don’t Fall For It [Op-Ed]