Trump administration expands election probes into at least eight states

A surprise call to Franklin County, Ohio, opened a window into a federal push that has reached at least eight states and is forcing local election offices to confront demands they say are unlike anything they have seen before. In January, a man identifying himself as a Department of Homeland Security agent demanded immediate access to voter records, then widened the request to voter-registration forms, voting histories and information about local voter-registration groups.

Franklin County elections director Antone White said the outreach was unprecedented for his office. Even after county officials complied, they were left without a clear explanation for why the records were needed or what case the inquiry was tied to. In Franklin County, local reporting later said the federal investigator collected unredacted registration and voting records for at least 50 voters, including signatures, addresses and partial Social Security numbers.

The Ohio episode was not isolated. The same pattern reached Nevada and Colorado, where federal officials sought data or access that normally sits under state and local control. In Ohio alone, federal investigators later collected voter records in at least six counties, including places that were politically mixed and counties that leaned heavily Democratic. The scope matters because American elections have been administered by states and local governments since the Constitution gave states primary responsibility over election machinery, leaving federal involvement to limited oversight, civil-rights enforcement or narrow criminal investigations.

Instead, the Trump administration has widened the federal footprint. The Justice Department began sending requests for statewide voter-registration lists in May 2025 and has since sued 30 states and Washington, D.C., over voter data and access demands. By March 6, 2026, federal district courts had dismissed Justice Department lawsuits against California, Michigan and Oregon, and the California court found the demands violated federal privacy law. A Brennan Center tracker updated April 17 said the department had asked for full statewide voter-registration lists, ballots from previous elections and access to voting equipment.

The pressure has also moved through other parts of the federal government. Reuters reported on March 9, 2026, that the FBI had obtained records related to the 2020 election in Arizona, extending scrutiny beyond routine state-level oversight. Voting-rights activists sued the administration in April over its efforts to obtain registered-voter lists from states, arguing the campaign was an attempt to take over and subvert the midterm elections. The broader fight now tests not just voter privacy and machine access, but the balance of power between Washington and the states in one of democracy’s most sensitive systems.