Dozens of States to Trump’s ‘Voter Integrity’ Commission: Get Lost

Commission Run by Attorney for Anti-Immigrant Hate Group

At least twenty-seven states have now told the White House commission created by President Trump’s Executive Order last month to investigate alleged voter fraud that they will not comply with a request from the commission to provide all of their publicly and protected available voter rolls data by mid-July.

​The commission is chaired by Vice President Pence and was created by Trump after numerous allegations he made that as many as 5 million people voted “illegally” last November. According to the White House, the commission’s stated purpose is to recommend ways to improve the public’s confidence in the integrity of elections.  

Former President Barack Obama’s head of the DOJ’S Civil Rights Divison says the commission’s intent is voter suppression. 

In his statement released by his office Friday, New York’s Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo said:

“The electoral process is sacred and New York law has strong safeguards in place to prevent sharing of sensitive voter data and harassment against those who exercise their right to vote. New York refuses to perpetuate the myth voter fraud played a role in our election. We will not be complying with this request and I encourage the Election Commission to work on issues of vital importance to voters, including ballot access, rather than focus on debunked theories of voter fraud.”

Cuomo had tweeted that New York wouldn’t reply prior to releasing his statement, linking his tweet to a story by NPR published Thursday. The story detailed the letter sent to all 50 states by Kansas’ Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who was appointed Vice-Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity by President Trump.

The letter requested that all publicly available voter roll data be sent to the White House by July 14, five days before the panel’s first meeting. The information requested includes the names, addresses, birthdates, political party (if recorded), last four digits of the voter’s Social Security Number and which elections the voter has participated in since 2006, for every registered voter in the country.

NPR also noted that the letter also seeks views and recommendations on what laws and policies hinder officials’ ability to ensure the integrity of elections, what evidence officials have regarding instances of voter fraud or registration fraud, and what changes to federal law could be made to improve the integrity of federal elections.

Officials from other states stated unequivocally that their respective states will not disclose nor release sensitive voter information.

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla told NPR Thursday that he would not provide sensitive voter information to the commission.

“California’s participation would only serve to legitimize the false and already debunked claims of massive voter fraud made by the President, the Vice President, and Mr. Kobach,” Padilla, a Democrat, said in a statement.

Appearing on MSNBC late Friday, Kentucky’s Secretary of State rejected the presidential voter fraud commission’s broad request for voter registration information, saying “there’s not enough bourbon” in Kentucky to convince her to comply with the demand.

“There’s not enough bourbon here in Kentucky to make this request seem sensible,” Alison Lundergan Grimes told MSNBC. “Not on my watch are we going to be releasing sensitive information that relates to the privacy of individuals.”

“Not on my watch are we going to be turning over something that’s left to the states to run – elections are left to our states under the 10th Amendment – to the federal government.”

Mississippi’s Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said his office would refuse to cooperate with the voting-fraud commission, noting in a press release that the commission would be welcome to “go jump in the Gulf of Mexico.” He also noted that his office had previously fought in federal court to protect voters’ privacy.  “Mississippi residents should celebrate Independence Day and our State’s right to protect the privacy of our citizens,” he added.

Brody Levesque is the Chief Political Correspondent for The New Civil Rights Movement. You may contact Brody at Brody.Levesque@thenewcivilrightsmovement.com.

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