The FBI searches the office of an Ohio group that supports voter registration efforts

FBI agents searched the office of a group in Ohio that supports voter registration efforts, seizing documents and computer files, a board member of the organization said Friday.

It’s the latest action the Trump administration has taken regarding state voting or election processes, and comes in a state expected to see hotly contested races this fall for governor and the U.S. Senate.

Federal agents came to the Ohio cooperative’s Cleveland office on Thursday and spent hours questioning employees, said Prentice Haney, a member of the grassroots organization’s board of directors. The organization was founded in 2007 and describes its mission as fighting for criminal justice reform, racial justice and expanding voting rights.

Federal agents also went to the homes of people who worked with the organization, obtaining interviews and information about alleged voter fraud, Haney said. He accused the agents of using “tactics of intimidation and harassment” and expressed concern that the investigation aimed to sow doubt in the upcoming elections.

The focus of the investigation was not clear, but a person familiar with the matter said Friday that investigators were examining potential fraud violations. The person was not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Justice Department declined to comment Friday, and an FBI spokesman in Cleveland did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Watch: How Trump’s Save America Act will reshape voting and why critics are worried

To obtain a search warrant, federal authorities must convince a judge that probable cause exists for criminal activity. Although the authorities for the information provided were not immediately made public, Democrats expressed doubts about the basis of the revealed research amid ongoing concerns about a politicized FBI and Justice Department.

The party’s presidential candidates in the state issued statements on Friday saying they were disturbed by the FBI raid.

“Any attempts by federal law enforcement to intimidate eligible Ohioans from registering to vote are unacceptable,” said Dr. Amy Acton, the former state public health director, who won the Democratic primary for governor and is challenging Republican Vivek Ramaswamy.

Democrat Sherrod Brown, who is challenging Republican Sen. Jon Husted in the fall, called on the FBI to announce “any and all activities related to these raids.”

He added: “Any attempt to intimidate voters in Ohio is wrong and will not succeed.”

Read more: New Hampshire must relax proof of citizenship rules for voter registration, judge says

Republicans hold the state’s highest elected seat in 20 years and hold both U.S. Senate seats, but they worry that Democratic momentum in this year’s midterm elections could leave them vulnerable.

During President Donald Trump’s second term, the Department of Justice launched numerous legal actions or investigations related to voting or election operations in the state.

The FBI seized ballots and other records from the 2020 elections for Fulton County, Georgia, Maricopa County, Arizona, and from the 2024 elections in Wayne County, Michigan. Election workers in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, were also questioned. All four are in states witnessing a presidential battle.

Watch: Trump signs executive order to create national list of eligible voters

The Justice Department has sued at least 30 states and the District of Columbia after they refused to turn over detailed voter data that includes dates of birth and partial Social Security numbers. She said in court filings that she wanted the information so she could run it through a Department of Homeland Security program that verifies U.S. citizenship, though the program’s accuracy has been questioned. The Justice Department has so far been on a losing streak in lawsuits it has filed seeking to wrest data from resistant states.

Early in his second term, Trump, a Republican, also ordered the Justice Department to investigate ActBlue, the Democratic Party’s largest fundraising platform.

Allegations of fraud in voter registration efforts are typically investigated by states and typically involve people working for groups that pay for registration. Earlier this year, officials in California opened an investigation into whether signature gatherers were offering to pay people to sign a ballot petition. In 2025, Pennsylvania officials brought criminal charges against seven people for submitting fraudulent voter registration forms.

Lauer reported from Philadelphia, and Richer wrote from Washington. Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed from Washington.