The FBI has begun seeking internet protocol information connected to online voter registrations as federal agencies broaden scrutiny of voter rolls, registration records and potential ineligible registrations ahead of the November midterms.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The FBI has sought internet protocol data tied to an online voter registration in South Carolina, introducing a digital investigative method into a broader federal examination of voter registration systems and election records.
Emails obtained through a public records request by Democracy Forward and shared with Axios show that an FBI agent asked South Carolina election officials in March for the IP address associated with an individual voter’s online registration.
State and local election officials provided the requested information. A later email carrying the subject line “Voter Investigation” indicated that the FBI received the digital records in June.
Parts of the correspondence between the FBI and the general counsel for the South Carolina State Election Commission were redacted. As a result, the records do not disclose what triggered the inquiry or whether investigators suspected the voter of violating election law.
The FBI did not respond to Axios’ requests for comment.
IP addresses can provide information about the approximate geographic location, internet service provider and network associated with an internet connection. An IP address generally does not, by itself, establish the identity of a particular individual.
The investigative approach could have implications beyond South Carolina because 43 states provide some form of online voter registration, according to Axios.
York County election official Alan Helms said a law enforcement request for that type of registration information was highly unusual based on his experience.
“It is not common” to receive such a request, Helms told Axios. “In my tenure as an election official, going on 20 years, that is the first interaction with law enforcement.”
Helms said officials complied with the request because South Carolina law allowed them to release the information.
The FBI inquiry comes amid a wider federal effort examining voter rolls and registration procedures involving several agencies, including the Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has pursued voter-registration records from states across the country. The department announced in April that it had sued 30 states and Washington, D.C., after they declined to provide complete voter registration lists.
Federal officials have argued that the Civil Rights Act of 1960 gives the attorney general broad authority to obtain election records for federal inspection, including access necessary to review voter lists for registrations that may be improper or ineligible.
ICE investigators have separately requested individual voter files from election authorities in Texas and North Carolina. Those records can contain information including residential addresses, dates of birth, methods of registration and voting histories.
The Trump administration says expanded federal access to voter-registration information is necessary to identify people who are not eligible to remain on voter rolls and to help prevent voting by noncitizens. Noncitizen voting is already prohibited in federal elections.
Critics of the effort contend that the expanding investigations stem from President Donald Trump’s longstanding claims about fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Courts, election administrators and officials serving in the Trump administration found no evidence of fraud on a scale sufficient to change the result of that election.
Robert Weiner, a former senior Justice Department civil rights attorney, criticized the administration’s approach in comments to Axios.
“The administration has gone down every rabbit hole, pursued every possible avenue to undermine the confidence in the integrity of the federal election process and to undermine the process itself,” Weiner said.
The federal government’s growing scrutiny of registration records comes as election administrators prepare for the Nov. 3 midterm elections, placing voter rolls, online registration systems and election security procedures under increasing attention.
The South Carolina correspondence indicates that the review now extends beyond traditional voter files to technical data generated during online registration, including the internet addresses associated with individual submissions.
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