Dem On Trump’s Sketchy Election Panel: We ‘Should Have Predicted’ Backlash

Current Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap listens to the swearing in of newly elected legislators at the Maine State House in Augusta, Maine, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014. Republicans now hold the majority in the Sena... Current Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap listens to the swearing in of newly elected legislators at the Maine State House in Augusta, Maine, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014. Republicans now hold the majority in the Senate, but Democrats remain in control of the House. After lawmakers took their oaths, Democratic Rep. Mark Eves was re-elected speaker of the House. Republican Michael Thibodeau, who served as Senate minority leader last session, was elected president of the chamber. (AP Photo/Michael C. York) MORE LESS
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Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap (D), a member of President Donald Trump’s sketchy “election integrity” commission, on Wednesday said the panel “should have predicted” outrage at its request for states to turn over sensitive voter information.

“The fullness of experience being what it is, we should have predicted it,” Dunlap told Mic in an interview. “When I heard the news reports, you know, it sounded like the commission was going to propose rounding people up.”

He said “people are very very protective of” the way they participate in elections, which is something Dunlap said the panel’s request “deals with,” and that his office has received “hundreds and hundreds of e-mails.”

“People are very concerned,” he said. “That’s been borne out by the reaction that we’ve gotten, and I think that you’ve seen across the country on a very, very nonpartisan basis. Republicans and Democrats seem to feel the same way about it.”

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R), the vice chair of the panel, on Wednesday said in a statement released by the White House that the commission has been hindered by “media distortions and obstruction by a handful of state politicians.”

Dunlap last week told Maine voters that he would not “release any data that is protected under Maine law, to the commission or any other requesting entity.”

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Notable Replies

  1. “The fullness of experience being what it is…

    Um…What the hell does this mean?

  2. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach ®, the vice chair of the panel, on Wednesday said in a statement released by the White House that the commission has been hindered by “media distortions and obstruction by a handful of state politicians.”

    And the Jews. Don’t forget the Jews. Can’t have a successful rant without blaming the Jews.

  3. I will translate:

    “Wow, we really stepped in it, and I am in a very embarrassing situation here, so I will make lots of important-sounding noises that don’t mean squat, hoping to drown things in the 60-Hz hum.”

  4. I think it means most people live and learn, but some people just live.

    Either that, or “stupid is as stupid does.”

  5. There’s a faint whiff of religious dog-whistling, but I gotta go with @brian512 's theory.

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