As the Trump administration tries to corral the voting history of every American in the name of "election integrity," Dark Reading is reporting that over 40 million voter records from at least nine states are for sale on the dark web, with the seller claiming to have records for an additional 20-25 states.
Related: Electronic voting protects our democracy. Don't throw it away
The offer was found by a threat intelligence company called LookingGlass Cyber Solutions. The records being offered include voters' full names, voter IDs, birth dates, voter status, party affiliations, residential addresses and more. They come from Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma and Washington state. The seller, who goes by "Logan," is offering the records in an underground, dark web forum for stolen credit card information and logins.
"Logan is not affiliated with any group, to our knowledge," Jonathan Tomek, director of threat research at LookingGlass Cyber Solutions, told Dark Reading. "We believe he is acting alone. I can say he is over 18, travels a bit internationally, and works for a cyber security company."
Voter databases for at least Arkansas and Ohio were sold earlier this week for $2 each, leading LookingGlass Cyber Solutions to believe money was not a motivating factor behind the transactions. Not much else is known about Logan's activity, but the voter information is believed to have been obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests, website requests and "social engineering."
"We do know he is actively trading this information for other stolen items such as credit cards and login credentials," Tomek continued. "The combination of the voter information plus the other data has potential to be very bad since the voter data contains birthday, home address, email and full name."
The news comes days after a federal judge ruled that Trump's "Election Integrity Commission" can move forward with its request for full voting records from all 50 states dating back to 2006. The judge ruled that the White House advisory panel is exempt from federal privacy requirements.
The commission is seen by many as a way for Trump to lend credence to his claim that as many as 5 million people voted illegally in the election, potentially costing Trump the popular vote. Several states have refused to turn over the information due to concerns about disenfranchisement and voter suppression. The man leading the commission, Kris Kobach, has a history of cracking down on potential voter fraud, which has proved to be rare.
More than 40 states have refused to comply fully with the commission's requests, but Judge Kollar-Kotelly's ruling on Monday makes it more difficult for states to resist handing over data. Some states, like California, are still holding strong in their refusal to comply with the commission, but the decision is encouraging for the White House. "This ruling is a major victory for government accountability, transparency and the public's right to know about the integrity of our elections processes," Kobach said in a statement following the ruling.
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Ryan Bort is a staff writer covering culture for Newsweek. Previously, he was a freelance writer and editor, and his ... Read more
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