NAACP LDF Sues WH Election Panel, Alleging Racial Discrimination

The NAACP’s Legal Defense and Education Fund (LDF) on Tuesday filed a lawsuit along with the Ordinary People Society against the Trump administration’s bogus “election integrity” commission, alleging that the commission was formed in an attempt to discriminate against minorities.

“This commission has one purpose: to justify voter suppression. Numerous statements made by this President and his surrogates about the need for this commission – statements detailed in our complaint – support the conclusion that this commission was created to substantiate the claim that African American and Latino voters are engaged in widespread voter fraud,” Sherrilyn Ifill, the president and director-counsel of the LDF said in a statement.

The LDF argues that the commission violates the Constitution because it was formed as a way to racially discriminate. The group also argues that the President does not have the authority to establish such a commission and that that power lies with the Election Assistance Commission.

The group said that it believes the commission had plans to use its request for state data on voters to compare voters rolls to lists to a Department of Homeland Security list of people who are not U.S. citizens. LDF noted that President Donald Trump has “made false allegations of widespread voter fraud in the United States, often using racially coded language linking voter fraud to predominately minority urban communities and to ‘illegals'” without any evidence.

The group also noted in its statement that some Americans have already started canceling their voter registration in order to protect their personal information, citing this as clear damage.

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the ACLU have also filed lawsuits against the commission, but the LDF is the first to allege racial discrimination.