DHS threatens pro-voting group over its voter registration research 

Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin has asked for a federal probe of the Center for Election Innovation & Research (CEIR), a nonpartisan, pro-voting organization of election administration experts, over a years-old research project on states’ efforts to register more voters.

In a letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche — which was uploaded to the White House’s website — Mullin claimed that CEIR violated the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act by improperly using motor vehicle agency data in a 2022 report. 

CEIR Executive Director David Becker vehemently denied those allegations in a written statement Friday.

“CEIR takes seriously the concerns raised in Secretary Mullin’s letter but firmly rejects any suggestion that it receives motor-vehicle or voter data on an ongoing basis, conditions grants on access to sensitive information, or uses such information for partisan purposes,” Becker wrote. 

The study found that after election officials in Delaware and Oregon sent mailers to eligible — but unregistered — voters, many of them registered to vote. The voters were identified by matching voter rolls with drivers license records. 

The motor vehicle department data came from the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) — a collective of election officials from 28 states that shares voter registration data to improve the accuracy of each state’s records that Becker co-founded — that includes information gleaned from motor vehicle departments.

In recent years, several red states have left ERIC, citing objections to the group’s requirement that participating states reach out to eligible but unregistered voters to encourage them to get on the rolls.

The federal driver privacy law prohibits “[s]tate department of motor vehicles, and any officer, employee, or contractor thereof” from knowingly disclosing an individual’s personal information, such as a social security or driver’s license number.

Mullin’s letter alleges that ERIC improperly shared motor vehicle data with CEIR. It also implies that it was done for partisan purposes, noting that CEIR received funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and that the data “regarding potential voters is incredibly valuable to political parties and campaigns.”

CEIR recently faced similar allegations in a civil lawsuit filed by the 1798 Foundation, a right-wing group that goes by the name Citizen AG. A federal judge dismissed that case in June and sanctioned the lawyers who brought it for making frivolous claims.

CEIR says on its website that its mission is to “restore trust in the American election system and promote election procedures that encourage greater voter participation while ensuring election integrity and security.”

The letter isn’t the first thinly veiled threat Mullin has made while indulging President Donald Trump’s dissembling obsession with “election integrity.” 

In July, Mullin warned that states that refused to use a new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) citizenship database would be prioritized in future noncitizen voting investigations aimed at holding “election officials accountable.” And earlier this week, Mullin told reporters that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents could enter polling places to make arrests this November, despite federal prohibitions.

Democracy Docket asked the DOJ and DHS for comment. Neither agency immediately responded. 

ERIC also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

If DOJ managed to secure a conviction, the penalty would be a fine of up to $250,000 for charges brought against an individual, or $500,000 if they go after CEIR as an organization.