ICE Emails Show Push to Use Palantir Tool for Voter Fraud Probes

The Department of Homeland Security has explored using a Palantir-supported tool to investigate people it suspects voted illegally, according to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request and published this week by Democracy Forward, a legal advocacy group.

The emails, sent by Immigration and Customs Enforcement workers, show that Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), one of ICE's two major components, is spearheading voter fraud investigations. Its Innovation Lab, known as iLab, is developing tools for agents, and the records suggest plans to integrate voter roll data into a system called ELITE (Enhanced Leads Identification & Targeting for Enforcement).

A May 26 email with "Voter Fraud" in the subject line describes how iLab's processing focuses on Department of Justice voting rolls and US Citizenship and Immigration Services data. Criminal histories are supposedly excluded for now, with efforts to change that. The same email says coordination with iLab continues "particularly on ingesting processed voter roll data into the ELITE enforcement system to enhance lead management, analytical review, and investigative tracking."

A July 7 email with an attachment named "Fraud WAR" reports that Connecticut, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, Michigan, and New Mexico had "been enriched by the iLab and are pending Palantir entry into ELITE." What exactly was enriched remains unclear, but a DHS official in the same chain said the update would be sent to the White House.

Chinmayi Sharma, an associate professor at Fordham Law School who has closely tracked ELITE, tells WIRED that ICE appears to want "a system that is going to get good at determining how to find people to investigate and potentially bring action against." She added that builders would want to "build off of what already exists, what might already have the infrastructure and data sources that you would want."

The existence of ELITE was first reported in January by 404 Media, which said agents using the tool can create maps of potential deportation targets, pull up files on each target, and see a "confidence score" for a person's current address. A Palantir spokesman tells WIRED that "voter roll data has never been integrated into ELITE."

ICE declined to comment on investigative methods, with a spokesperson saying the agency does not "disclose the existence of investigative methods and techniques." A DHS spokesperson says HSI is "actively rooting out and investigating election fraud wherever it can be found," while the White House did not respond to WIRED's request for comment.

The documents also reveal that DHS officials have investigated over 150 nonprofit groups in search of evidence they're helping noncitizens register to vote. This aligns with the Trump administration's repeated claims that noncitizen voting could sway elections, despite all available evidence showing it is vanishingly rare.

Sharma notes the language in the emails suggests the system isn't live yet, but is being built for the future. "I could be wrong," she says, "but there's a reason you choose to build voter fraud [investigations] within DHS when it does not intuitively fall within what you would think of as DHS's purview, and I think it's because of the authorities, the infrastructure, the vendor relationships, the contract vehicles, and privileges. There's just a lot of synergies you can take advantage of."

What this means for you

If you're a lawful permanent resident or a U.S. citizen who has voted, this news is a reminder that federal agencies are expanding their data-sharing and targeting capabilities. It's worth staying informed on how your voter registration data might be used, and you can check your registration status with your state's election office.

Palantir's denial that voter roll data has ever been integrated into ELITE does not rule out future integration, especially given the emails' explicit references to planning that move. The documents show the intent is there, even if the system isn't fully operational yet.

• Democracy Forward
• DHS
• ELITE
• ICE
• Palantir
• voter fraud