The Trump administration is moving to create a centralized national voter database, a proposal that has set off alarm bells among state election officials across the political spectrum who view it as federal overreach into constitutionally protected state functions.
According to election officials and documents reviewed by CNN, the administration has approached multiple states about providing detailed voter registration data to feed into a federal system ostensibly designed to detect voter fraud and ensure election integrity. The initiative has drawn opposition from secretaries of state in both red and blue states who jealously guard their authority over elections.
"This is a solution in search of a problem," said Brad Raffensperger, the Republican Secretary of State of Georgia, who famously resisted pressure from Trump to "find" votes after the 2020 election. "States run elections. We have systems that work. Federal consolidation of voter data raises serious questions about federalism and privacy."
The proposal would create an unprecedented federal repository of voter information—potentially including names, addresses, voting history, and other personal data on more than 160 million registered voters nationwide. Proponents within the administration argue such a database would help identify voters registered in multiple states, detect non-citizens on voter rolls, and prevent fraud.
But election officials and constitutional scholars warn the plan raises profound questions about federal versus state power, data security, and the potential for political manipulation of voting rights. The Constitution explicitly delegates authority over elections to states, a principle that has been a cornerstone of American democracy since the founding.
"The Tenth Amendment is pretty clear about this," said Jocelyn Benson, Michigan's Democratic Secretary of State. "Elections are run by states, not by . And frankly, I wouldn't trust any administration—Democratic or Republican—with a centralized database of every American voter."
