Kris Mayes, Adrian Fontes ask US attorney to act on alleged voter data misuse

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes on Wednesday asked U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine to raise concerns with federal agencies over allegations that Homeland Security officials are using “highly questionable data and methods” to identify noncitizen voters.

In a joint letter sent Wednesday, the two Democrats cited a whistleblower complaint relayed through U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla’s office alleging that DHS and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services leadership “abruptly diverted” staff from the agency’s Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate to an “Unlawful Voter Initiative.”

Mayes and Fontes said the reports “suggest serious violations of both state and federal privacy laws,” including the Privacy Act of 1974, which requires agencies to complete public notice and comment before compiling sensitive personal information.

They wrote they could find no indication that process was followed.

The letter also cites a federal court order barring DHS from building a database of personal information to investigate noncitizen voting.

Mayes and Fontes added that the court determined voter information may only be used for the intended purpose.

“If DHS is in fact engaged in the conduct as alleged, it is at least circumventing and at worst directly violating that order,” the letter states.

The officials asked Courchaine to confirm the data did not come from any Arizona voter registration database, including a copy of Maricopa County’s 2020 voter rolls the U.S. attorney’s office may have received through an Arizona Senate subpoena in March.

Arizona law limits use of voter registration records to political and election purposes and shields details such as birth dates, Social Security numbers and driver license numbers.

“The state of Arizona stands ready to pursue all legal avenues, up to and including criminal prosecution, to safeguard the privacy of our voters and hold the federal government accountable to its obligations under the law,” the letter states, co-signed by Mayes and Fontes.

Courchaine’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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