ICE explored using Palantir’s ELITE tool to analyze voter roll data for voter fraud investigations

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) explored using a Palantir-supported tool called ELITE to analyze voter roll data as part of voter fraud investigations, according to documents obtained by the legal advocacy group Democracy Forward and reported by WIRED. The effort was spearheaded by ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit, specifically its Innovation Lab (iLab), which sought to develop systems to identify and prioritize potential voter fraud cases.

Internal emails from May 26, obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request, described a focus on processing Department of Justice voter rolls and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data to build a system capable of determining targets for investigation. The emails noted that criminal histories were initially excluded but efforts were underway to address this gap. The goal, as described by an HSI worker, was to create a system that could effectively identify individuals for potential enforcement actions.

The ELITE tool, which stands for Enhanced Leads Identification & Targeting for Enforcement, was originally designed to support deportation efforts by mapping potential targets, aggregating files, and generating confidence scores for addresses. A Palantir spokesperson told WIRED that voter roll data had never been integrated into ELITE, though the documents suggest ICE was actively exploring this possibility.

Coordination between iLab and other DHS components continued throughout the summer, with a July 7 email referencing a weekly activity report titled “Fraud WAR” that included updates on “election integrity investigations.” The email noted that several states—Connecticut, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, Michigan, and New Mexico—had been “enriched by the iLab and are pending Palantir entry into ELITE,” though the specific nature of the enrichment was not detailed in the records.

The initiative reflects a broader effort by the Trump administration to investigate voter fraud, despite evidence indicating such cases are rare. DHS, under Secretary Markwayne Mullin, has led these efforts, with ICE positioned as a central actor in long-term tool development for identifying potential violations. Legal experts, such as Chinmayi Sharma of Fordham Law School, noted that the choice to build voter fraud investigations within DHS likely stemmed from existing authorities, infrastructure, and vendor relationships that could be leveraged for such purposes.