Who Controls The Vote? Nevada’s Election Chief Faces Seven Federal Subpoenas Ahead Of US Midterms

Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar says seven grand jury subpoenas issued by the US Justice Department seeking voter information have disrupted his office and diverted time from his re-election campaign, which is shaping up as a key contest ahead of the November midterm elections.

The subpoenas were sent to Aguilar’s office between June 16 and September 2, according to public records. Aguilar, a Democrat who oversees elections and certifies results in Nevada, said he believed the federal government was targeting him to influence who controls the state’s election administration ahead of the 2028 presidential election.

“If they can take me out in ’26, they have control in ’28,” Aguilar told Reuters. “It’s absolutely intentional.”

Federal Demands

The first subpoena arrived in June, when Aguilar’s office was working informally with the FBI on routine election security. Three more demands seeking voter data arrived on September 1 and 2, Reuters reported.

The subpoenas form part of a broader Trump administration effort to obtain state voter rolls while investigating claims of non-citizen registration. President Donald Trump said in a July 16 address that hundreds of thousands of non-citizens had registered to vote, citing an administration review that identified Nevada as one of four states where the practice was allegedly widespread.

The Justice Department did not comment on the subpoenas or Aguilar’s allegation that they were politically motivated. The White House says the administration’s objective is to protect election integrity and voting security.

Fraud Dispute

Aguilar said his office had investigated the administration’s claims and found no evidence that the individuals flagged by the federal government were non-citizens.

The Department of Homeland Security initially identified as many as 16,000 names on Nevada’s voter rolls as potentially belonging to non-citizens. DHS officials later told state election officials they had confirmed 185 cases, according to emails and video reviewed by Reuters. Nevada officials said their records showed all 185 individuals were US citizens.

A DHS spokesperson subsequently said the department had identified at least 2,000 names from the original list as belonging to non-citizens. Aguilar disputed the evidence provided by the agency.

US law generally bars non-citizens from voting in federal and state elections. The dispute centres on the accuracy of the records being used to identify possible violations, rather than whether non-citizens are legally entitled to vote.

Legal Battle

The subpoenas come as the Justice Department pursues a wider campaign to obtain voter registration data from states. In December 2025, the department sued Nevada and Secretary of State Aguilar, seeking the state’s voter registration lists under federal election laws.

Nevada has challenged federal efforts to obtain voter information, citing privacy concerns. The state attorney general announced a court victory in August, describing it as a ruling against federal overreach into election administration.

Reuters reported that the Justice Department has sued 30 states and the District of Columbia for voter information and has lost 26 of those cases, including the Nevada dispute.

Election Stakes

Aguilar is seeking another term against Republican Jim Marchant, whom he narrowly defeated in 2022. Marchant has welcomed the federal scrutiny, arguing that it could cause voters to question Aguilar’s management of elections. He has also repeated claims that Nevada elections have been affected by widespread fraud, which have not been substantiated by the evidence cited in the report.

The subpoenas have added to Aguilar’s workload, he said, requiring time for legal consultations, staff briefings and public responses. Some donors have withdrawn support over concerns that backing him could affect their businesses, he told Reuters.

The dispute places Nevada’s election administration at the centre of a national fight over voter data, federal authority and election security ahead of the midterms. The Justice Department has not publicly addressed Aguilar’s claim that the subpoenas are politically motivated.