Follow the Influence

Case file 03 · Elections + data

The voter-data provenance question

Public records now establish large federal voter-data flows and Heather Honey’s role in obtaining 48.4 million records from unnamed “independent sources.” They still do not publicly identify those original sources.

Evidence status: mixedDocumented + open questionLast reviewed: November 2, 2026

What is documented

Election Integrity Network materials say EIN was created in 2021 under the Conservative Partnership Institute and Cleta Mitchell, then later transferred to the Virginia Institute for Public Policy. CPI records describe state-level coalition building and training.

Records obtained from HSI in 2026 state that 48.4 million records were obtained by Heather Honey through “independent sources of information.” Separate reporting on an October 26 declaration says HSI received what appeared to be the California voter list from an unnamed “DHS senior counselor” on March 19, 2026.

Open question: The public record does not identify the original source or sources of Honey’s 48.4 million records. It also does not definitively identify the unnamed DHS senior counselor who supplied the California file to HSI. Honey’s current title makes her a plausible candidate, but the promotion date and existence of other senior counselors prevent treating that as established fact.
ClaimStatusSource
EIN says it was founded in 2021 under CPI with Cleta Mitchell as its first chairman.DocumentedEIN 2024 booklet ↗
CPI describes Mitchell as its senior legal fellow and founder of EIN.DocumentedCPI — Cleta Mitchell ↗
HSI records say Honey obtained 48.4 million records from “independent sources of information.”DocumentedDemocracy Forward records release ↗
An Oct. 26 declaration says an unnamed DHS senior counselor provided what appeared to be the California voter list.DocumentedDemocracy Docket analysis of filing ↗
Honey was that senior counselor / supplied the California file.Open questionNot established by the public filing.
EagleAI, IV3, EIN, FAIR, Data Trust, i360 or another named vendor supplied Honey’s 48.4 million records.Open questionNo public record currently identifies the original source(s).

Why this matters

Data provenance affects reliability, legality, reproducibility and the ability of courts or election officials to test the claims derived from a dataset. That makes the missing source information substantively important—not an invitation to guess.