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Concerns About Election Integrity and Government-Funded NGOs

government-funded NGOs are using student data in campus registration and get-out-the-vote work, and points to a FERPA complaint.

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worry about election integrity is high among conservative voters, and that government-funded progressive NGOs with access to voter data deepen that worry. It names ballot harvesting and what it calls illegal data transactions. The case page is Campus voter data and the ALL IN challenge.

The threat

The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge uses private student data and public resources in student-targeted voter-registration drives and get-out-the-vote campaigns. The activity is aimed at federal elections in swing states including Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. It names public universities and private NGOs as the actors.

Close elections can be moved by those drives, and lost trust reduces turnout. Some of the organizations use misleading information campaigns.

The project files with people and groups affected by unlawful election practices, and that it filed a federal complaint against the Department of Education to enforce FERPA against organizations manipulating voter registration. The filing notice is Education Department FERPA filing.

Litigation is a last resort because it is expensive, and it describes the sequence as investigate, educate, then litigate. The cases rest on research rather than on filing first.

Hands meeting over a table.

It lists three points it calls signs of success:

  • The administration then in office was inclined to support what the post calls just elections and used federal funds to enforce compliance.
  • If the matter is litigated, the post believes FERPA and the Help America Vote Act were violated.
  • Secretary of Education Linda McMahon wrote to educators that, over the prior four years, “instead of vigorously enforcing these laws, the Biden Administration has neglected the flood of complaints it received,” and that “they took advantage of this dereliction of government responsibility and installed policies that specifically instruct teachers and administrators to conceal critical student information from their parents.”

Education, Verity Vote, and the ask

The strategy pairs public education with litigation: explain ballot harvesting, tell officials about violations, and expect enforcement. A letter to Linda McMahon, then called Director of the Department of Education in the post, was drafted with a national voter-advocacy organization.

A courtroom seen from above.
High angle view of a courtroom showcasing legal proceedings and justice.

It cites a report by Heather Honey of Verity Vote on alleged FERPA violations for partisan advantage: Student data sharing for partisan advantage. The report stands on its own next to the fund’s FERPA complaint, and that under 20 U.S.C. § 1232g(b)(7) the Department of Education must take action to stop violations tied to the National Student Clearinghouse, NSLVE, and ALL IN registration and get-out-the-vote campaigns.

The post invites readers to follow the legal project, contact local representatives, and vote. Its support link points at the case page, 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.