Homeland Security tells the Attorney General it referred two election nonprofits to the Justice Department over state voter data
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin writes to Attorney General Todd Blanche to put him on notice of prior DHS referrals to the Justice Department, one of which asks DOJ to review the legality of ongoing sharing of state motor vehicle and voter registration data with private non-profit non-governmental organizations, naming the Electronic Registration Information Center and the Center for Election Innovation and Research and flagging potential violations of the Driver's Privacy Protection Act. The White House released the letter two days later.
What happened
The four-page letter is dated September 2, 2026, signed by Mullin as Secretary of Homeland Security and addressed to Blanche at the Justice Department. It presents itself as notice rather than a new referral: DHS "identified several issues during my predecessor's tenure that resulted in referrals to the Department of Justice," and Mullin wrote that he "wanted to make sure that you are aware of these prior referrals." Two are described. The first asks DOJ to determine whether voting systems that count votes from barcodes and QR codes comply with Title III of the Help America Vote Act. The second is the data-sharing referral: "Generally, we asked DOJ to review the legality of ongoing sharing of state motor vehicle data and voter registration data with several private non-profit non-governmental organizations," flagging potential violations of the Driver's Privacy Protection Act, 18 U.S.C. sections 2721-2725. Mullin wrote that DHS representatives met with DOJ representatives on that issue in September 2025. The letter states that the Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC, "exposes millions of citizens' sensitive private data to unknown contractors, subcontractors, and agents" of ERIC, potentially in violation of the DPPA; that before the 2020 election ERIC shared protected motor vehicle data with the Center for Election Innovation and Research, or CEIR; and that CEIR "received over $70 million from the Chan Zuckerberg 501(c)(3) organization, which was used to provide grants to state election officials who agreed to turn over sensitive private data to CEIR." It asserts no DOJ investigation, criminal charge or legal conclusion, and closes by inviting Blanche to reach out with questions "as you review these referrals." The White House released the letter on Friday, September 4. The two filed sources differ on ERIC's origin: the Washington Examiner, which obtained the letter, describes ERIC as a nonprofit membership organization created and governed by state election officials that uses voter-registration and motor vehicle data to help states identify inaccurate rolls, duplicate registrations and deceased registrants, while the letter says ERIC "was created by Pew Charitable Trusts, in part, to facilitate access to comprehensive data in state motor vehicle databases." CEIR executive director David Becker disputed Mullin's account on September 4, saying CEIR does not receive motor vehicle or voter data on an ongoing basis, does not condition grants on access to sensitive information, and that "DHS did not contact CEIR for any information or clarification prior to issuing this letter." ERIC states on its website that members submit Social Security and driver's license information only after it has been cryptographically hashed.
Why it matters
ERIC is a membership organisation of state election officials, used by states to find inaccurate rolls, duplicate registrations and deceased registrants. Routing a question about how it handles data to the department that brings criminal cases makes the referral itself the pressure, and releasing the letter through the White House puts that pressure on the public record rather than leaving it in a case file, which is why the absence of a charge or a conclusion is the point rather than a reason to shrug: the cost falls on shared election infrastructure in the run-up to an election, before any finding has been made either way.