Trump administration subpoenas Nevada election officials

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The Nevada Secretary of State’s Office has received seven voter-related Department of Justice subpoenas from the FBI over the past three months.

By Eric Neugeboren
The Nevada Independent

Voters at the Galleria at Sunset mall polling site in Henderson on the primary election day on June 9, 2026. (Daniel Clark/The Nevada Independent)

The Nevada Secretary of State’s Office has received seven voter-related Department of Justice subpoenas from the FBI over the past three months, it confirmed to The Nevada Independent on Thursday, Sept. 2.

News of the subpoenas had not been previously reported. The office did not provide additional information.

The subpoenas mark a dramatic escalation of the Trump administration’s efforts to interfere in Nevada elections. 

The Trump administration had previously sued Nevada for its decision to not hand over an unredacted copy of its voter file, which includes voters’ driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers. A judge last month dismissed that lawsuit.

Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar (D) had previously called the request for voter info an attempt “to intimidate us into turning over protected voter data.”

The Trump administration had also alleged that there could be more than 15,000 noncitizens on Nevada’s voter rolls. It later acknowledged that it has only been able to identify 185 potential noncitizen voters so far and said the 15,903 number it originally cited was a “ceiling.”

Trump also wants to create a federal voter list and prohibit the Postal Service from sending mail ballots to voters not on these lists. 

Although the effort is mired in legal disputes, the Postal Service is making plans to implement the system, which a whistleblower alleged this week could lead to tens of thousands of ballots failing to reach voters before the November midterms. Aguilar told The Indy this week he had little faith in the federal government’s ability to implement the new rules.

Updated on 9/3/26 at 3:55 p.m. to note that the subpoenas are voter-related and at 4:12 p.m. to include more context.

The Nevada Independent is a 501(c)3 nonprofit news organization. We are committed to transparency and disclose all our donors. The following people or entities mentioned in this article are financial supporters of our work:

  • Francisco Aguilar – $800