> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.theredoubt.net/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # US Census Bureau acquires more commercial voter data - URL: https://www.theredoubt.net/us-census-bureau-acquires-more-commercial-voter-data/ - Published: 2026-09-23T13:10:10.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-23T13:10:10.000Z - Description: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has promised the bureau will find tens of thousands of "illegal voters." - Author: Charles R. Davis Real & independent journalism This original reporting is funded entirely by readers like you — not governments, and not corporations. Support us with a [paid subscription](https://www.theredoubt.net/#/portal/signup) or [one-time donation](https://www.theredoubt.net/#/portal/support). [Join The Redoubt ](#/portal/signup) The U.S. Census Bureau is obtaining more commercial voter registration data, which can include Social Security numbers, email addresses and a person's race or ethnicity, weeks after it used such records to falsely claim that thousands of noncitizens voted in the 2020 election. According to [federal records](https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT%5FAWD%5F13ADDC26C0002%5F1323%5F-NONE-%5F-NONE-?ref=theredoubt.net), the Census Bureau, which operates within the Department of Commerce, recently awarded a contract worth $796,000 to the North Carolina-based Bridgetree, a data marketing firm, for "voter registration data." Delivery of the records, spanning from 2024 through Aug. 31, 2026, is due by the end of September. To obtain the contract, Bridgetree and other vendors were asked to "demonstrate capabilities" by submitting their data for a handful of jurisdictions, including Fulton County, Georgia, which is presently the target of an investigation by the Trump administration into alleged election irregularities. There are legitimate reasons why the Census Bureau might acquire commercial election data, including to validate its own [surveys](https://www.census.gov/topics/public-sector/voting.html?ref=theredoubt.net) on voter participation, one of which begins in the coming weeks. But the bureau is also explicit: any data that it obtains will be used for any lawful purpose it decides. Recent history suggests that could mean such data being used to support Trump administration claims of voter fraud. In August, the bureau issued an unsigned report claiming that commercial voter data previously acquired by the Biden administration had helped it identify "[over 24,000](https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2026/dir/noncitizen-voting-in-the-2020-election.html?ref=theredoubt.net)" instances of noncitizen voting in the 2020 election. The bureau's analysis was [widely](https://www.votebeat.org/national/2026/08/20/trump-census-bureau-noncitizen-voters-2020-election-methodology/?ref=theredoubt.net) [panned](https://www.theredoubt.net/aryan-bones-austrias-fascist-youth-are-bringing-back-weird-nazi-pseudo-science/) by experts and former employees. But at the time it was released, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick promised that it was "just the beginning." "More than 32 million more voters' records will be analyzed in the coming weeks, and these records will likely show tens of thousands of additional illegal voters," Lutnick [posted](https://archive.is/JE6nf?ref=theredoubt.net) on social media. [Join The Redoubt](#/portal/signup) ### Bureau seeks Fulton County records In its request for proposals, the Census Bureau asked election-data vendors to "demonstrate capabilities," in part, by providing voter information for a handful of locations, among them Fulton County, Georgia, a Democratic-leaning jurisdiction that has been the target of conspiracy theories related to the 2020 election and beyond. In January, the FBI [raided](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/02/fulton-georgia-fbi-trump-2020-election-raid/?ref=theredoubt.net) election offices there as part of an investigation into alleged irregularities. Vendors were also asked to share data for the Republican-leaning Jackson County, Georgia, the state of Wyoming and other jurisdictions in Mississippi, Hawaii, New Mexico and Alaska. [Exclusive: Ballroom firm got $33.7 million no-bid contract to demolish historic buildingsA no-bid contract was awarded to the same firm that is constructing President Trump’s White House ballroom, The Redoubt can reveal.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f6/71/f671d086-f0d7-4c0f-bc4c-d72fa949f40c/content/images/icon/The-Redoubt-19--1-14e0c864-ab21-4bb7-8eed-3c9969e6eff7.png)The RedoubtCharles R. Davis![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f6/71/f671d086-f0d7-4c0f-bc4c-d72fa949f40c/content/images/thumbnail/51441843822_322ad055c6_k-dd91d02a-deb2-43e3-9bdd-9baaf626f353.jpg)](https://www.theredoubt.net/exclusive-noem-spends-33-7-million-to-demolish-historic-buildings-at-dhs-headquarters/) In response to questions from vendors, the bureau said the type of voter data it sought "was previously acquired ... from Data-Clear." Based in Virginia, Data-Clear sold commercial voter information to the Biden administration in 2024; that information was later used by the Trump administration to claim illegal voting. In public records, the bureau links the acquisition of commercial voter records to the need to improve its own work, explaining that such data could eliminate the need "to directly ask respondents certain survey questions." But the bureau also stressed that all records acquired will "commingle" with previously collected data and, "in effect, become the property of the \[U.S. Census\]." ### 'Hot garbage' The Trump administration's previous handling of commercial voter data is cause for "healthy skepticism" of whatever it puts out based on such data going forward, said Justin Levitt, a former deputy assistant attorney general in the Obama administration and a White House adviser on voting rights under President Joe Biden. He told *The Redoubt* that the bureau's last report on alleged voter fraud — the first of many, the administration promised — was unsigned for good reason. "I have never seen anything like the 'beginning analysis' that was put out in August, and neither have colleagues who were career civil servants at Census," Levitt, who teaches constitutional law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said in an interview. "I don't think it's an authorized use of tax payer money," he continued, and the work product itself is "hot garbage." Proven cases of noncitizen voting in the United States are rare. Between 1982 and 2025, there were fewer than 100 confirmed instances of noncitizens voting in U.S. elections, according to the right-wing Heritage Foundation. The Census Bureau, in its August report, appears to have arrived at a far higher number by sidelining the career professionals. Citing a source within the bureau, NPR [reported](https://www.npr.org/2026/08/19/nx-s1-5938799/trump-census-bureau-noncitizen-voting?ref=theredoubt.net) that the analysis was drafted by a team that "included individuals affiliated with the America First Policy Institute, a think tank started by officials from Trump's first administration." If accurate, that suggests any data acquired by the Trump administration could be made available to its allies outside government. The Census Bureau did not respond to a request for comment. *Appreciate this reporting? Support us with a* [*paid subscription*](https://www.theredoubt.net/#/portal/signup) *or* [*one-time donation*](https://www.theredoubt.net/#/portal/support)*. And follow us on* [*Bluesky*](https://bsky.app/profile/theredoubt.net?ref=theredoubt.net)*.* ## Sign up for The Redoubt Independent reporting, original analysis, democratic values. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.