The FBI serves 7 voter-data subpoenas on Nevada’s secretary of state, who says he is personally under investigation

What happened

Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar’s office confirmed on September 5, 2026 that it had received seven voter-related subpoenas from the FBI over roughly three months, more than any other state. They came weeks after the Justice Department lost its civil suit for Nevada’s unredacted voter list.

Aguilar told TIME in October that he has been informed he is personally under Justice Department investigation. The New York Times reported that the subpoenas run through the office of U.S. Attorney Sigal Chattah. They are grand-jury subpoenas.

Aguilar’s office has drafted an emergency court filing to be lodged “within seconds” if federal agents try to seize ballots or equipment. Federal agents took ballots in Fulton County, Georgia. Early voting in Nevada begins October 17.

Who benefited

The Justice Department sought through a grand jury what a civil court had refused it, and gained leverage over the official who will certify Nevada’s results. Aguilar, a Democrat elected in 2022, runs elections in one of the closest states in the country.

Who wanted something

The administration claimed 16,000 noncitizens were on Nevada’s rolls, and its own agency later could not name one. The subpoenas and the personal investigation arrived as that claim was collapsing. Chattah’s office issued the subpoenas.

Who lost out

Aguilar is running an election while he is a target of the federal government. Nevada’s voters, whose personal data the state’s courts protected, face a grand jury now compelling it. The county clerks who answer to him are watching what happens to him.

Why it matters

A sitting secretary of state in a swing state is an investigative target weeks before the vote. Earlier threats to prosecute election officials are now live criminal process against one, with the state’s emergency motion already drafted.

Sources CNN (via KEYT)FOX5 Las VegasTIME