ICE Plans to Pay $5 Million to Create National Voting Database
ICE Plans to Pay $5 Million to Create National Voting Database
美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）计划斥资 500 万美元建立全国选民数据库
In a bid to tackle alleged voter fraud, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is preparing to award a contract worth up to $5 million to a company that will create a massive national database of voters. 为了应对所谓的选民欺诈，美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）正准备授予一份价值高达 500 万美元的合同，聘请一家公司建立一个庞大的全国选民数据库。
ICE first detailed what the contract would entail in a document published last week. “The purpose of this acquisition is for the handling and secure delivery of publicly available voter registration files and voter history files to support Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) fraud detection and data segmentation activities,” the document reads. ICE 在上周发布的一份文件中首次详细说明了该合同的内容。文件写道：“此次采购旨在处理并安全交付公开的选民登记文件和选民历史记录文件，以支持国土安全调查局（HSI）的欺诈检测和数据细分活动。”
In the document, ICE says that the agency will initially provide a list of specific states it wants to acquire public voter registration files from, though the successful contractor will need to have the capability to obtain data from all 50 states. ICE is also seeking voting history data “for each federal election specified by the government, including general, primary, runoff, and special federal elections.” 在文件中，ICE 表示该机构最初将提供一份希望获取公开选民登记文件的特定州名单，但中标承包商必须具备从全美 50 个州获取数据的能力。ICE 还寻求获取“政府指定的每次联邦选举的投票历史数据，包括大选、初选、决选和联邦特别选举。”
ICE is seeking publicly available information from each state, which each have their own rules around how it is obtained. This would include voter registration, and in many cases, voting history. Either could potentially include party affiliation—a move that experts believe will violate a right to privacy for US voters. ICE 正在寻求从各州获取公开信息，而各州对于如何获取这些信息都有各自的规定。这包括选民登记信息，在许多情况下还包括投票历史。这两者都可能包含党派倾向信息——专家认为此举将侵犯美国选民的隐私权。
The document states that the successful contractor won’t be asked to collect and share party affiliation data fields for voters but that could change if “explicitly directed in writing by the contracting officer.” That contracting officer is listed as Michael Royer, section chief at Homeland Security Investigations, the investigative unit within ICE. ICE, DHS, and Royer did not respond to a request for comment. 文件指出，中标承包商不会被要求收集和共享选民的党派倾向数据字段，但如果“合同官员以书面形式明确指示”，情况可能会发生变化。该合同官员被列为国土安全调查局（ICE 内部的调查部门）的部门主管 Michael Royer。ICE、国土安全部（DHS）以及 Royer 均未回应置评请求。
On Monday, the agency published an acquisition forecast document that revealed the ICE contract would be worth between $2 million and $5 million. The final contract is expected to be published next Monday, and is likely to be awarded soon after, given that the term of the contract will expire on September 30. 周一，该机构发布了一份采购预测文件，显示 ICE 的这份合同价值在 200 万至 500 万美元之间。最终合同预计将于下周一公布，并很可能在此后不久授予，因为合同期限将于 9 月 30 日到期。
ICE’s effort to create a national voter database is part of a much broader effort within the Department of Homeland Security and the Trump administration to undermine trust in the upcoming midterm elections. For more than a year, the Department of Justice has been seeking to create a national voter database by demanding states hand over unredacted voters rolls. States and courts, however, have pushed back. ICE 建立全国选民数据库的举措，是国土安全部和特朗普政府在更大范围内削弱公众对即将到来的中期选举信任度的一部分。一年多来，司法部一直试图通过要求各州交出未经删减的选民名单来建立全国选民数据库。然而，各州和法院对此进行了抵制。
DHS has already demanded states comply with its investigations. The agency has also said it would withhold emergency preparedness and counter terrorism funding from states who refused to implement White House policies on elections. And the agency has gone after voters directly, threatening to deport those suspected of voting illegally even when they have no criminal convictions. Despite assertions from DHS and the Trump administration, incidents of noncitizens voting are vanishingly rare, with an investigation in Georgia this week finding very few examples. 国土安全部已经要求各州配合其调查。该机构还表示，将扣留那些拒绝执行白宫选举政策的州的应急准备和反恐资金。该机构还直接针对选民，威胁要驱逐那些涉嫌非法投票的人，即使他们没有任何刑事定罪记录。尽管国土安全部和特朗普政府声称存在此类问题，但非公民投票的事件极其罕见，本周佐治亚州的一项调查仅发现了极少数案例。
DHS also announced a new surge to investigate alleged voter fraud in certain states ahead of the midterms, to “pursue investigative leads, conduct field interviews, and support timely prosecutorial review,” according to internal DHS guidance that was first reported by CNN this week. 据 CNN 本周首次报道的国土安全部内部指导文件显示，国土安全部还宣布了一项新的行动，旨在中期选举前调查某些州所谓的选民欺诈行为，以“追踪调查线索、进行实地采访并支持及时的检察审查”。
“It’s a joke,” Wisconsin governor Tony Evers said when asked about DHS’ plans. “I think it’s another thing that Trump is doing to make it look like there’s all sorts of problems that are not problems in Wisconsin. And frankly, he needs to stay out of it because voting is a state issue and not a federal issue.” “这简直是个笑话，”威斯康星州州长托尼·埃弗斯（Tony Evers）在被问及国土安全部的计划时说。“我认为这是特朗普做的另一件事，目的是让威斯康星州看起来存在各种其实并不存在的问题。坦率地说，他需要远离这件事，因为投票是州事务，而不是联邦事务。”
This is not the first time that ICE has issued a contract related to uncovering voter fraud. In July, 404 Media reported that ICE was set to pay Thomson Reuters $125 million for access to its CLEAR database, a platform that brings together names, addresses, property records, driver’s licenses, social media profiles, and voter registration records from both public and private sources. 这并非 ICE 首次发布与揭露选民欺诈相关的合同。今年 7 月，404 Media 报道称，ICE 准备向汤森路透（Thomson Reuters）支付 1.25 亿美元，以获取其 CLEAR 数据库的访问权限。该平台汇集了来自公共和私人来源的姓名、地址、财产记录、驾照、社交媒体资料和选民登记记录。
And ICE has also sought a direct route to accessing voter files. In June, Axios reported that agents from ICE had obtained individual voter rolls from election officials in two counties in Texas and North Carolina. ICE 还寻求直接访问选民文件的途径。今年 6 月，Axios 报道称，ICE 的特工已从德克萨斯州和北卡罗来纳州两个县的选举官员手中获得了个人选民名单。
Last year, WIRED reported that DOGE was building a master database using data from DHS as well as the Social Security Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, and voting data from Pennsylvania and Florida. 去年，《连线》（WIRED）杂志报道称，DOGE（政府效率部）正在利用来自国土安全部、社会保障局、国税局的数据，以及宾夕法尼亚州和佛罗里达州的投票数据，建立一个主数据库。
“They are trying to amass a huge amount of data,” a senior DHS official told WIRED at the time. “It has nothing to do with finding fraud or wasteful spending … They are already cross-indexing immigration with SSA and IRS as well as voter data.” “他们正试图积累海量数据，”一位国土安全部高级官员当时告诉《连线》。“这与发现欺诈或浪费性支出毫无关系……他们已经在将移民信息与社会保障局、国税局的数据以及选民数据进行交叉索引。”