The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Sept. 22, 2026
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September 21, 2026 12:20 pmWASHINGTON, DC — In its Holy Grail quest to find noncitizen voters, the U.S. Department of Justice allegedly violated state privacy laws by looking up voter information on state voter registration portals. A whistleblower report says thousands of voter records may have already been accessed.
Democracy Defenders Fund released the report to U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, providing the documents and information used in an August 21st training of DOJ employees. It documents explicit instructions to use the state portals to identify noncitizen voters.
Virginia, Massachusetts, and Florida, cited in the report, restrict portal registration lookup to the voter, or the voter’s designee. Virginia’s portal states, “I certify and affirm that the information provided to access my voter registration is my own or l am expressly authorized by the voter to access this information. I understand that it is unlawful to access the record of any other voter, punishable as computer fraud under Va. Code § 18.2-152.3.”
Nevertheless, DOJ trained its personnel to ignore the prohibitions and use the portals anyway. It’s likely many thousands of voters were affected, and in addition to state violations, use of Social Security data to access the files may also have violated the federal Privacy Act of 1974.
Audits and studies show no evidence of widespread noncitizen voting anywhere in the U.S. We’ve linked to the whistleblower report at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.
Letter From U.S. Senator Alex Padilla to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin containing whistleblower report on allegedly illegal access to voter information on state voter registration portals.
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources
U.S. Senator Alex Padilla / Democracy Defenders Fund – Whistleblower Report & Letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin
NPR – Federal agents may have broken state laws in voter fraud hunt, whistleblower claims
U.S. Circuit Court for DC – Amendment in League of Women Voters v. DHS, admitting use of alternate use of Social Security information
Related ADM Reports:
American Democracy Minute – Class Action Suit by Voters Claims Personal Data Shared to the Trump Administration’s SAVE Database Violates the Privacy Act of 1974
American Democracy Minute – Let’s Just Say the Trump Administration’s Quest to Obtain State Voter Data Has Not Gone Well. DOJ is now 0 for 22, With 9 More Cases Pending.
Groups Taking Action:
Register or Check Your Voter Registration:
U.S. Election Assistance Commission – How to Register And Vote in Your State
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