FBI agents executed a search warrant on a Thursday at the Ohio office of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, a grassroots group known for registering voters. Multiple sources familiar with the matter told CBS News the search is part of an ongoing fraud-related investigation.
The same day, federal agents began turning up at the homes of employees and volunteers to interview them, said Prentiss Haney, a board member who was authorized to speak for the group. He said the questions appeared to focus on voter fraud. MS Now reported the search and the interviews first.
The group’s account
Haney called the operation an “assault” on civil rights groups that bring people into the democratic process. He said “over 125 agents” visited the homes of volunteers, community leaders and staffers.
“They were following people in their cars. Following kids to school. They were knocking on doors. Calling the phone. Demanding to come into houses to get phones without warrants,” he said.
The Justice Department’s response
A DOJ official declined to discuss the case, saying the search warrant affidavit remains under seal. The official added that warrants are authorized by a judge, and that anything organizations or the media say about it is “unfounded speculation.” The target of an investigation, the official said, does not see the affidavit until after an indictment.
No charges have been announced.
The group’s history and funding
The collaborative describes itself as a civil rights organization. It registers voters and advocates for criminal and economic justice reform. In 2017, a paid canvasser for the group pleaded guilty for involvement in a fraudulent voter registration scheme.
IRS tax records show donations over the years from progressive groups including the New Venture Fund and the Tides Foundation, both of which Republicans have scrutinized in the past over allegations of financial mismanagement. Another donor is the Voter Registration Project. The conservative-leaning Capital Research Center accused that group of violating its nonprofit status by leading an effort to register millions of voters who helped Joe Biden win in 2020. The project denies any impropriety. Republican lawmakers in Michigan asked the Justice Department in 2025 to investigate its role in what they called illegal electioneering and fraudulent registration efforts.
A broader push
The Ohio search comes as the Justice Department has more widely pursued voter fraud cases ahead of the midterm elections. Minnesota’s secretary of state received grand jury subpoenas for a limited number of voter records, part of a federal inquiry into whether noncitizens are registered or have cast ballots. The FBI also recently tried to interview the elections director in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. In California, prosecutors charged a Los Angeles-area woman accused of paying homeless people to register to vote.
