White House Request For Feedback On Its Election Commission Backfired Bigly

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach listens to arguments before the Kansas Supreme Court in a petition by Democrat Chad Taylor to remove his name from the ballot after he withdrew from the U.S. Senate race Tuesday,... Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach listens to arguments before the Kansas Supreme Court in a petition by Democrat Chad Taylor to remove his name from the ballot after he withdrew from the U.S. Senate race Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014, in Topeka, Kan. Kobach, a Republican, ruled that Taylor's name must remain on the ballot because he didn't comply with state election law. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) MORE LESS
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The White House solicited comments on its bogus “election integrity” commission that has so far faced nothing but setbacks and embarrassments, and the public feedback has been correspondingly negative—and hilarious.

The Trump administration this week posted public comments it received from the end of June through July 11, and it appears that the White House inbox has been flooded with angry Americans tearing into what the President himself has referred to as a “voter fraud panel.”

Some commenters expressed serious concern with the commission’s actions, including the worry that the commission’s request to states for the last four digits of voters’ social security numbers could open people up to bank fraud. Many states rejected the commission’s request for detailed data on voters, with some noting that sharing pieces of the requested data would violate state law.

Quite a few commenters politely urged the commission to withdraw its request for the data and offered suggestions for expanding voting rights and securing elections in the United States.

Others offered angry rebuttals and profanity-laden comments railing against the commission and its vice chair, Kris Kobach, the Republican Kansas secretary of state notorious for his efforts to restrict voting rights.

“You’re a disgusting fraud with no moral bearing whatsoever,” one commenter told Kobach.

The White House did not redact personal information, like home and email addresses, for those who submitted contacts. TPM only published screengrabs from the documents that do not include identifying information.

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