Padilla condemns alleged false voter-portal instructions
Alex PadillaU.S. senator and ranking member of the Senate Rules Committee
Padilla says the whistleblower disclosure alleges officers were told to misrepresent their authority on state voter sites and calls for DHS to halt the activity.
“Federal officers are being told by headquarters to lie or to misrepresent themselves in order to access state voter data.”
Official statement
Original text
Where this statement fits
Did DHS direct officers to misrepresent themselves to search state voter records?
A September 2026 whistleblower disclosure alleges that personnel working on DHS's Unlawful Voter Initiative were directed to search state voter portals even where access requires the user to be the voter or an authorized representative. The published packet includes a list of state sites, an attestation example, and a training excerpt saying officers could search the sites. The excerpt does not explicitly instruct officers to make false attestations. Senators Alex Padilla and Chuck Schumer have called for an investigation and an immediate halt to the activity. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin denied that officers were given the alleged directive. The dispute is whether DHS directed officers to misrepresent their authority to obtain protected voter records.
Source and context
Official statement
About this source
Padilla publicly recounted the whistleblower's allegations that officers were told to misrepresent themselves on voter sites. He called for the initiative to stop and for DHS to disclose its practices. His remarks are allegations and criticism, not independent proof of completed false attestations.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Original text
About this source
The published packet contains senators' allegations, a whistleblower's account, screenshots of state voter portals, and excerpts from USCIS training. The reproduced training says officers may search listed sites; it does not explicitly instruct them to make a false voter attestation.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Padilla introduced the anonymous whistleblower's disclosure to the Senate and described its allegations about the initiative.
After the quotation
He called for DHS to halt the activities, disclose its practices, and remove unreliable law enforcement records.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Padilla criticizes the alleged directive to misrepresent voter authorization and demands that the activity stop. His statement draws on the whistleblower disclosure.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security
More from this case
Read the full caseCoons and other senators call the alleged DHS voter-portal searches alarming if true
“If true, this is just another alarming effort by the Department to use data that USCIS materials admit may be inaccurate, coupled with questionable means to potentially disenfranchise voters.”Read statement
Peters and other senators call the alleged DHS voter searches alarming
“If true, this is just another alarming effort by the Department to use data that USCIS materials admit may be inaccurate”Read statement
Mullin denies directive to impersonate voters
“That's absolutely not the directive that we put out there, and it's not even close to what we're doing.”Read statement
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- Padilla condemns alleged false voter-portal instructions
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The Dispute Index. "Padilla condemns alleged false voter-portal instructions". First published: 2026-09-28. Last updated: 2026-09-28. https://disputeindex.com/events/3226-padilla-says-the-whistleblower-disclosure-alleges-officers-were