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Axios investigation reveals FBI obtained South Carolina voter's IP address in probe tied to Trump's unsubstantiated fraud claims

On July 31, 2026, Axios reported that the FBI had requested and obtained the IP address associated with a South Carolina resident's online voter registration, part of the Trump administration's investigation into unsubstantiated 2020 election-fraud claims. The FBI made the request in March 2026 and received the data in June 2026 through York County, South Carolina election officials; a York County official with roughly 20 years' tenure called it his first such interaction with law enforcement, and a former senior Justice Department official described the request as an inappropriate "fishing expedition" into private voter data. The tactic surfaced alongside a separate Justice Department lawsuit campaign seeking voter-roll access from roughly 30 states and Washington, D.C., and could extend to any of the 43 states plus D.C. that allow online voter registration.

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
York County, South Carolina

Abuses documented

Actors

Axios reported on July 31, 2026, that the FBI had requested and obtained the IP address tied to a South Carolina resident's online voter registration, an investigative tactic connected to the Trump administration's ongoing pursuit of Donald Trump's unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 election was stolen. According to Axios, an FBI agent requested the IP address in March 2026, and South Carolina state and local election officials — including officials in York County — provided the data to federal authorities in June 2026, as permitted by law. Alan Helms, a York County election official with roughly 20 years' tenure, said the request marked his first interaction of this kind with law enforcement: "It is not common ... In my tenure as an election official, going on 20 years, that is the first interaction with law enforcement." [1, 2, 3]

A former senior Justice Department official told Axios the request was "not typical" and amounted to "a fishing expedition to see private voter data," calling it "not appropriate." Although an IP address does not reveal a person's identity, it can show a device's general location, internet service provider, and network — information that in the voter-registration context could indicate the state or country from which a person registered. [1, 2, 3]

The tactic surfaced alongside a parallel, multi-agency campaign: the Justice Department is separately suing roughly 30 states and Washington, D.C. for access to their voter rolls, and Axios reported that ICE has also sought voter data in Texas and North Carolina. Because 43 states plus Washington, D.C. currently allow some form of online voter registration, the IP-address tactic could extend nationwide if the FBI continues to use it. [1, 2]

Why we recorded this

Elections in the United States are administered by the states, and voters who register to vote reasonably expect that their registration data will not become the subject of a federal criminal investigation absent evidence of wrongdoing. Here the FBI requested and obtained a South Carolina voter's IP address as part of an investigation into Donald Trump's own unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 election was stolen — a request a veteran county election official had never before encountered, and one a former senior Justice Department official called an inappropriate "fishing expedition." Recording this marks the use of federal law-enforcement power to collect private voter data in service of a president's unproven fraud claims, a tactic capable of reaching any of the 43 states that allow online voter registration.

Sources

  1. Exclusive: FBI gets voter's IP address in new fraud probe tactic — Axios primary accessed August 1, 2026
  2. FBI Escalates Trump's "Voter Fraud" Crusade With Disturbing Move — The New Republic secondary accessed August 1, 2026
  3. FBI on the hunt for voter IP addresses: Report — Raw Story secondary accessed August 1, 2026

See also