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Election Integrity

Exposing the Illegal Collusion Between Progressive Activists and State Governments: The All In Campus Democracy Challenge Scandal

The post argues that ALL IN, a Civic Nation program, is paired with state election offices in six states and may be misusing student data.

All posts

The live Election Integrity category lists this post. It argues that the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, a program of Civic Nation, is embedded in state election offices and uses student data and institutional access for partisan turnout. The later case write-up is Campus voter data and the ALL IN challenge.

The post describes Civic Nation as a 501(c)(3) tied to the Obama Foundation and staffed by former Democratic operatives, supporting causes it lists as climate activism, gender ideology, race policy, and voting rights. ALL IN claims to be nonpartisan civic engagement, and that partnerships with secretaries of state in at least six states are unusual for a charity barred from partisan electioneering.

Six partnerships

These offices have official partnerships with ALL IN:

  1. Michigan. Since 2019, the Michigan Department of State has partnered with ALL IN on the Michigan Collegiate Voting Challenge. the challenge gives state endorsement to a Civic Nation operation in public colleges, collects participation data, and awards campuses based on turnout. Michigan Collegiate Voting Challenge PDF.
  2. New Jersey. The Department of State runs the “NJ Ballot Bowl” with ALL IN. it a mobilization campaign endorsed by the state, with possible access to student voter-registration data. NJ Ballot Bowl.
  3. Nevada. Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar announced in April 2024 a partnership with ALL IN aimed at youth turnout and the 2026 cycle. News 4 report. Nevada Secretary of State notice.
  4. Arizona. The Secretary of State promotes the Arizona Campus Voting Challenge with ALL IN. Arizona elections page.
  5. Maine. The Secretary of State runs the Maine Campus Voting Challenge with ALL IN. Maine program page.
  6. Colorado. The Secretary of State promotes the Colorado Campus Voting Challenge with ALL IN. Colorado page.

What the law forbids

ALL IN collects voter-registration and turnout data through colleges that receive federal funds. FERPA bars colleges from sharing personally identifiable student data with third parties without consent. The challenges give Civic Nation aggregate student data that can shape outreach.

A 501(c)(3) may not engage in partisan activity, and that Civic Nation’s politics and its work with Democratic-aligned election officials make the nonpartisan claim implausible. Secretaries of state partnering with a private group to reach a favorable voter bloc raises legal questions about electioneering with public resources.

The purpose described here is partisan: the program is built to shift youth turnout in close states, including Arizona, Michigan, and Nevada, inside public colleges.

It asks for four next steps: state investigations of the partnerships and any campaign coordination; an IRS complaint about Civic Nation’s 501(c)(3) status; congressional hearings; and FERPA audits of colleges in the challenge.

Support for this work is on Campus voter data and the ALL IN challenge.

A gift is a donation to Five Stones Legal Defense Fund. Publishing a post does not create an attorney-client relationship, and no legal outcome is guaranteed.