Bidding in progress Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is preparing to award contracts worth between $2 million and $5 million to companies that can build and manage a national voter database, as the agency investigates allegations of voter fraud.
ICE published details of the proposed contract last week. “The purpose of this acquisition is to process and securely distribute publicly available voter registration and voter history files to support Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) fraud detection and data segmentation activities,” the solicitation said.
According to the document, ICE will initially identify the states from which it wants contractors to obtain public voter registration records. However, successful bidders must be capable of collecting voter data from all 50 states. The agency is also seeking historical voting records for “each federal election designated by the government,” including general elections, primaries, runoffs and special federal elections. Although the information is publicly available, every state has its own rules governing access to voter registration and voting-history data. The records could include party affiliation, raising concerns among experts about voter privacy.
The solicitation says contractors will not be required to collect or share party-affiliation fields unless they receive “express written direction from the contracting officer.” The contracting officer is identified as Michael Royer, chief of Homeland Security Investigations, the investigative arm of ICE. ICE, the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment.
The agency released additional acquisition forecast materials on Monday. The documents estimate the ICE contract’s value at between $2 million and $5 million. The final award is expected to be announced next Monday, although the contract is likely to be awarded soon because the performance period ends September 30.
ICE’s plan to create a national voter database is part of broader efforts by DHS and the Trump administration to investigate alleged election irregularities and challenge confidence in the upcoming midterm elections. For more than a year, the Justice Department has sought to compile nationwide voter records by asking states to submit unredacted voter rolls. Several states and courts have resisted those efforts.
DHS has also asked states to cooperate with its investigations. The department said it could withhold funding from states that do not comply with federal requirements related to emergency preparedness, counterterrorism or election policy. DHS has also moved to require states to adopt White House election-security policies. In addition, authorities have threatened deportation for immigrants suspected of voting illegally, even when they have not been convicted of a crime. Despite claims from DHS and the Trump administration, research indicates that noncitizen voting is extremely rare. A recent investigation in Georgia found few examples.
DHS also announced a new wave of voter-fraud investigations in several states ahead of the midterm elections. Internal guidance reportedly directs officials to “pursue investigative leads, conduct on-the-ground interviews, and support timely prosecutorial reviews,” according to CNN.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers criticized the DHS plans when asked about them. “I think this is another thing President Trump is doing to make it seem like Wisconsin has all kinds of problems that don’t matter,” Evers said. “Frankly, voting is a state issue, not a federal issue, so he needs to stay out of it.”
Source: www.wired.com