The day after the White House’s bogus “election integrity” commission asked states to turn over data from their voter rolls, none other than a Republican secretary of state who was named to the commission itself joined a chorus of states declining to comply with the request.
Several states with Democratic secretaries of state, like California and Kentucky, quickly rejected the ask, decrying it as an attempt to bolster voter suppression attempts. The request came in the form of a letter from Kris Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state notorious for supporting restrictions on voting who is the vice chair of the commission.
But notably, Connie Lawson, Indiana’s Republican secretary of state, also declined to fulfill the request on Friday, citing state law that bars her from sharing voters’ personal information. The commission had requested “publicly-available voter roll data,” but specified that it was interested in information including the last four digits of voters’ social security numbers and birth dates.
My statement on the CEI's request for voter information: pic.twitter.com/46vECNBtkf
— Connie Lawson (@SecretaryLawson) June 30, 2017
Lawson was named to the commission, which is headed up by Vice President Mike Pence, the former governor of Indiana, in May.
Under Lawson, the Indiana State Police raided a voter registration office late last year, and she subsequently removed about half a million names from the voter rolls. As a state senator, Lawson also introduced a voter ID bill.
So much for State’s Rights. Only when it’s convenient for repubs. The Federal government does not control elections so this “commission” is toothless.
Moreover, Kris Kobach belongs in jail for voter suppression.
The obvious question, to which we all know the answer: How can a federal commission on “Election Integrety” fail to focus on Russian incursions into our most recent election as their first order of business?
On second thought, it wouldn’t do to give these folks any ideas for more things to screw up.
Not so toothless as you might wish. This commission will produce a report which is likely to be useful in fanning the flames of Les Déplorables. This sort of commission also produces model legislation which can be used to increase voter suppression on a state-by-state basis.
It could even produce a report that the Dead End Kids at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue could use to impose a unified electoral system (or registration) on us all.
I’d rather these assholes not have any real voter data.
I want them to go for it.
The ACLU is likely waiting on that one state to say yes to Kobach.
That’s when the lawsuits will commence.