Philadelphia’s Partnership With Democrat Data Firm Raises ‘Potential Legal Issues,’ Election Specialist Says
If there’s one locality responsible for Democrats’ success in Pennsylvania statewide elections, it’s Philadelphia.
During the 2020 election, the City of Brotherly Love delivered more than 600,000 votes for Joe Biden in his victory over Donald Trump in the Keystone State. It also helped Democrats Josh Shapiro and John Fetterman win their respective gubernatorial and Senate campaigns during the 2022 midterms.
With another contested presidential race rapidly approaching, juicing voter turnout in the dark-blue city is paramount for Democrats hoping to push an unlikeable Kamala Harris across the Electoral College finish line — and they may have found a way to do it.
While largely underreported, the Philadelphia mayor’s office has been using a data-gathering software provider that works exclusively with the Democrat Party to operate aspects of its online web portal. Known as NGP-VAN, this tech company has provided an array of services to “Democratic and progressive campaigns and organizations,” such as “fundraising, compliance, field, organizing, digital, and social networking products.”
As detailed on its website, NGP-VAN has worked with the Democratic National Committee and was previously used by Barack Obama’s presidential campaign for its “voter contact, volunteer, fundraising and compliance operations in all 50 states.” The company also expresses support for numerous left-wing causes, such as so-called “racial justice” and “climate change,” and has been paid for its services by numerous Democrat campaigns.
But those revelations are just the tip of the iceberg. NGP-VAN’s handling and possible distribution of client user data to left-wing political campaigns and organizations is raising questions among election specialists about the legality of the city’s contract with the Democrat software company, and whether such information is being used to boost Democrat turnout in Pennsylvania.
It appears “you have an organization like [NGP-VAN that is] actually being paid by [government] officials, and then they get that data and are in essence granting it to other political actors. That, to me, raises all kinds of potential legal issues,” Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow with The Heritage Foundation, told The Federalist.
Philly’s Dance with the Democrat Data Devil
Philadelphia’s relationship with NGP-VAN is not a new development. In fact, the Democrat stronghold has contracted with the political data firm for several years.
Last year, Restoration News’ Hayden Ludwig unearthed “[p]ublic filings reveal[ing] that in October 2021 the city signed a sole source contract with NGP VAN — meaning it was awarded without competitive bidding — to ‘collect, track, and utilize engagement data’ on Philadelphia residents.” A separate report later published by the outlet determined that this relationship dated back even further to 2018.
As noted by Ludwig, the city’s Democrat-run mayor’s office has made no attempt to hide its use of NGP-VAN-powered government resources to promote leftist causes.
In October 2022, Philadelphia’s Office of Civic Engagement and Volunteer Service — which is run by the mayor’s office — posted a tweet claiming, “Abortion is health care, and access to safe abortion services is a human right.” The post linked to a phila.gov webpage that provides “resources” for women seeking to terminate their unborn child and explainers on abortion laws in Pennsylvania.
The webpage also includes a “Take action” tab, which encourages readers to lobby state legislators to oppose a pro-life constitutional amendment proposal and volunteer with or donate to pro-abortion organizations, such as Planned Parenthood of Southeastern PA and the Abortion Liberation Fund of PA.
According to Ludwig, the Office of Civic Engagement and Volunteer Service also “offers services to teach activists ‘how to plan for recruitment, build a contact list, and track your work along the way’ — in other words, how to use NGP VAN software to run a successful campaign.” Forms included on the office’s NGP-VAN-run site and cited by Ludwig ask residents to disclose personal information, such as their full name, zip code, and “pronouns.”
Given these revelations, it was no surprise to learn that Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, a Democrat, paid NGP-VAN almost $6,000 for its services during her 2022-2023 mayoral campaign, according to the city’s campaign finance records. The Democrat software giant congratulated Parker on her subsequent victory in November 2023.
Mayor Parker’s office did not respond to The Federalist’s request for comment on what other city agencies are using NGP-VAN services. Nor did it respond when pressed on whether Parker feels it is appropriate her taxpayer-funded office is using NGP-VAN given its partisan track record.
Data Sharing
The more concerning aspect of the Philly-NGP-VAN relationship, however, is the latter’s apparent acquisition of personal information about the city’s residents.
When users click on the privacy policy listed on NGP-VAN’s website, they are re-directed to Bonterra LLC, which serves as NGP-VAN’s parent company. The firm’s privacy policy details what “personal information” it collects from individuals who provide such data when using its services. This includes an individual’s contact information (full name, job position, address), biological information (age, gender, political affiliations) and other data.
The privacy policy goes on to explain that Bonterra’s affiliates such as NGP-VAN may disclose personal information it collects to various third parties, such as political campaigns and organizations. Bonterra also reserves the right to retain such information indefinitely.
Users are permitted to opt out of certain Bonterra data-sharing arrangements, according to the policy.
Recall that NGP-VAN works exclusively with Democrats, meaning this data would only be available to leftist campaigns and groups — not Republicans. This essentially means that any personal information obtained by NGP-VAN through its relationships with the Philadelphia mayor’s office and other city services would only be available to Democrats should the software company decide to disclose such information.
It is currently unclear what other Philadelphia agencies are using NGP-VAN services or through what other means the Democrat firm may be able to acquire residents’ data.
Bonterra did not respond to The Federalist’s request for comment on how many Philadelphia residents have had their personal data shared by the company (and NGP-VAN) with third parties or what specific third parties the company has shared such data with.
Potential Legal Violations
So, what are the legal implications for Philadelphia’s relationship with NGP-VAN?
Von Spakovsky noted that aspects of the city’s contract with NGP-VAN may be illegal under federal law, depending on a series of factors — namely, whether the city’s election department is paying for NGP-VAN’s services and then giving residents’ data to the Democrat firm.
If NGP-VAN “is getting taxpayer money from a city election office … and then is taking all of the information that it’s getting on voters and forwarding it to Democratic political candidates, this raises a serious question about potential violation of federal campaign financial rules,” said von Spakovsky, a former member of the Federal Election Commission.
The senior legal fellow further explained that it’s “one thing” if a data firm buys voter roll information from the state, which they are “perfectly allowed” to do under existing law. However, it’s a different scenario if NGP-VAN is being paid by the city and granted the data and then syphoning it to political operatives, he said.
“If a corporation, for example … gives a mailing list they have developed for their commercial products to a campaign, that’s an in-kind donation. Corporations … are not allowed to make donations directly to candidates, and in a case like that, to determine how much of a violation of law there is, you would have to put a fair market value on that mailing list,” von Spakovsky said. “Those are the kind of issues that are involved in something like this, where you have a data firm that is working for one side of the political aisle [and is seemingly] getting data from [government] officials. And in this case, they’re not even purchasing it.”
Ludwig similarly suggested in his initial report that violations of Pennsylvania law may have occurred if Philadelphia voter data was syphoned into NGP-VAN for the purposes of assisting Democrats’ electoral prospects. Specifically, he cited 25 Pa. Stat. § 2705, which prevents public employees from “directly or indirectly soliciting, receiving, collecting, handling, disbursing or accounting for assessments, contributions or other money for a partisan political purpose.”
He also referenced 25 Pa. Stat. § 2607. That statute stipulates state and local governments (and their employees) cannot “apply for, enter into a contract for or receive or expend gifts, donations, grants or funding from any individual, business, organization, trust, foundation, or any nongovernmental entity for the registration of voters or the preparation, administration or conducting of an election in this Commonwealth” [emphasis added].
The Philadelphia City Commissioners Office did not respond to The Federalist’s request for comment on whether it has currently or previously paid and/or used NGP-VAN or any other Bonterra affiliate. Nor did Mayor Parker respond when pressed if she was concerned about potential legal issues arising from the city’s contract with NGP-VAN.
Lawsuits on the Horizon?
Some legal entities have begun to probe the Philadelphia-NGP-VAN relationship.
On July 26, an attorney representing the Republican National Committee (RNC) sent a letter to Parker regarding “concerns voter data [is] being harvested for the City and contained in the VAN Platform NGP VAN, specifically the data within the NGPVAN-created databases known as ‘My Voters’ and ‘My Campaign.’”
The lawyers requested Parker disclose answers to questions about the Philadelphia’s NGP-VAN contract, such as how the city “or others” are using the “My Voters” and “My Campaign” databases, what specific information is contained in each, and what “system users” have access to them. They also asked the Democrat mayor to detail which “political parties, operatives, campaigns, or consultants have access to these databases and/or have utilized the stored data.”
“We are deeply concerned about the use of publicly funded databases being accessed and used in political campaigns or for political fundraising efforts,” the letter reads.
The RNC did not respond to The Federalist’s follow-up inquiry on whether Philadelphia has responded to the letter. Nor did the group respond when pressed on if it plans to file a lawsuit against the city over the contract.
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
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