Someone Is Selling More Than 40 Million Voter Records on the Dark Web

“Financial gain is not the primary reason for the activity.”

Bill Clark/Zuma

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

More than 40 million voter records from at least nine states are being offered for sale on a dark web forum, and the seller claims to have records for an additional 20 to 25 states, according to Dark Reading, a news organization focused on information security. 

The data was discovered by Jonathan Tomek, the director of threat research at LookingGlass Cyber Solutions, a cybersecurity services firm. The “dark web” refers to a part of the internet accessible only via a special internet browser that allows for semi-anonymity. The voter data for sale includes first, last, and middle names, voter ID numbers, birthdates, voter status, party affiliation, and addresses for some voters in Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Washington state.

Voter data is available in most states for a fee, but only for registered political parties, candidates, and their committees, and there is no standardized approach for accessing it. Each state treats the information differently and charges fees based on rates set by that state’s legislature, which range from $20 to more than $12,000.

Tomek told Dark Reading that the seller, known only as “Logan,” had already sold at least two copies of the databases earlier this week—the ones in Arkansas and Ohio—for only $2 each, although the identity of the purchaser is unclear. The low price indicates that “financial gain is not the primary reason for the activity,” Dark Reading wrote. “Logan” likely obtained the databases through open records requests to states or pulling data directly from state election websites. Another strategy is known as social engineering, in which someone is talked into providing access to otherwise restricted material by an individual who pretends to be someone they are not—in this case a candidate, election official, or representative from a political party.

“Logan’s” interests are not restricted to voting data, but he is actively trading this information for other stolen items such as credit cards and login credentials,” Tomek said. Based on his research, Logan was not affiliated with any particular group and is likely acting alone. “I can say he is over 18, travels a bit internationally, and works for a cybersecurity company,” he told Dark Reading.

Dark Reading notes that this revelation of the sale of voter information comes amid the controversy over the creation of President Trump’s voter fraud commission, a group designed to bolster his unfounded claim that 3 to 5 million ineligible voters cast ballots in the 2016 US presidential election. The commission is run by Vice President Mike Pence and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a man with a history of battling civil rights groups like the ACLU over voter access to the polls.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with The Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with The Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate