PACEI Voter Privacy voting Voting Privacy
In Privacy Victory, ICE Backs Down from Voter Data Demand
ICE has reversed position and is no longer seeking the immediate release of over 18 million voting records from North Carolina. Citing administrative difficulties and the unprecedented scope of the subpoena, ICE agreed to limit its demand to preserve voter privacy and will allow state officials to respond after the midterm elections in January 2019. The demand still poses substantial privacy risks and departs from testimony by Homeland Security Secretary Kristjen Nielsen, who told Congress that DHS would not make such requests. EPIC previously highlighted these problems and explained that the data demand violates DHS policy. EPIC has long fought to ensure voter privacy and recently forced the defunct Presidential Election Commission to delete millions of state voter records unlawfully obtained.