Active Control of the process Updated
Voter data collected and used to remove voters
Government demands full, unredacted voter rolls from states, sues those that refuse, and feeds the data into enforcement tools. The concern is that rolls are used to target or remove individual voters close to an election, not to run it.
What has happened
- CBS News found armed HSI agents asking residents in several states about citizenship and voting. A federal judge ruled Oct. 21 it likely violates the Voting Rights Act and halted such visits to likely citizens in nine states through Election Day, stayed until 5 p.m. Oct. 23. Map stays at 4 states.
- DOJ's California ballot case moves to Judge David O. Carter, who threw out DOJ's earlier California voter data suit in January. No ruling on DOJ's emergency request and no ballot set aside. No new state targeted today; observed states stay at 4.
- LA County tells the court a 200-record sample of DOJ's California list found 112 canceled or inactive registrations and many U.S.-born voters. California says DHS never backed its 190,000 claim. No new state targeted; 4 states on the map.
- Common Cause plaintiffs asked Judge Sooknanan for a status conference on whether DOJ's California letters and suit violate her October 9 order vacating the voter list program. DOJ lawyers say DHS reviewed California's public voter roll on its own, without SAVE, so the order does not apply.
- DOJ sues California in federal court in Los Angeles to stop it counting those ballots. State officials say the demand violates the federal ban on purging voter rolls within 90 days of an election. No judge has been assigned.
- DOJ sends California a list of about 20,000 voters it calls likely noncitizens and demands the state set aside their mail ballots within 48 hours. DOJ says Homeland Security Investigations built the list from state voter files and federal immigration data.
- Records obtained by Democracy Forward show immigration enforcement ingested 50.6 million records from a Justice Department dataset that may include unredacted voter lists.
Where it has been observed
- California Active since Oct 13, 2026
- States are told to remove specific voters from the rolls close to an election. California: DOJ named about 20,000 voters, told the state to set aside their mail ballots, then sued. DOJ says it is not asking to purge the rolls. · Oct 13, 2026
- Armed federal agents visit people at home to ask about their citizenship and whether they registered or voted. San Francisco Bay Area, California: HSI posted photos of agents knocking on doors in September · Oct 21, 2026
- Georgia Developing
- A state is sued by the Justice Department for refusing to hand over its voter rolls, and a county for 2020 election records. Georgia, one of 24 states and DC sued, and Fulton County for its 2020 records
- Illinois Developing
- A state is sued by the Justice Department for refusing to hand over its voter rolls. Illinois, one of 24 states and DC sued
- Virginia Developing
- A state is sued by the Justice Department for refusing to hand over its voter rolls. Virginia, one of 24 states and DC sued