Trump鈥檚 Sham Election Commission Wants to Operate in the Dark, but We鈥檙e Suing to Drag It Into the Sunlight
Despite a staggering amount of sensitive data from every registered voter in the country, Donald Trump鈥檚 Election Integrity Commission intends to hold its next meeting behind closed doors, where the same registered voters will not be able to participate. That鈥檚 illegal, so yesterday the 老澳门开奖结果 sued the president鈥檚 election commission under a federal law designed to ensure public accountability of advisory committees.
Under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the commission is required to make all meetings open to the public, with enough notice to allow for in-person attendance. The commission must also make all written records, documents, and meeting minutes available. Most importantly, the commission must adopt measures to ensure that its work is not inappropriately influenced by special interests or the president himself.
Thus far, we鈥檝e witnessed a total disregard for these requirements.
The commission has already held an initial meeting without public notice, and it will not permit the public to attend its next meeting on July 19. Instead, it has offered an internet livestream, a paltry replacement for real public engagement. It鈥檚 a troubling lack of transparency, especially for a body seeking an enormous amount of access to sensitive information. Our suit comes at the heels of Kris Kobach鈥檚 overreaching t to all 50 states to email the commission sensitive data on every registered voter, including full names, the last four digits of Social Security numbers, party affiliation, and voting history.
Pushback was swift and colorful.
Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, a Republican, that the commission 鈥済o jump in the Gulf of Mexico.鈥� Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, a Democrat, concerned that the 鈥渞equest is a mere pretense for pursuing restrictions on the fundamental right of citizens to vote.鈥� and took issue with the individual record of the commission鈥檚 vice chair Kris Kobach, citing both a 鈥渓engthy record of illegally disenfranchising eligible voters in Kansas鈥� and 鈥渁 long history of sponsoring discriminatory, anti-immigrant policies including voter suppression and racial profiling laws.鈥�
Election boards in multiple states heard from voters alarmed by the request. Ironically, the commission鈥檚 request alone was enough to suppress some votes: Both and reported an uptick in voters canceling their registrations outright to prevent data from being shared.
It doesn鈥檛 end there, though.
More than 40 states refused to provide the commission with the full breadth of data it requested. Despite that, Kris Kobach and Vice President Mike Pence would have us believe that the commission鈥檚 request is routine and benign, suggesting its 鈥溾�� that states are refusing to comply. President Trump has even suggested wrongdoing on behalf of officials who refused to hand over data, , 鈥淲hat are they trying to hide?鈥�
We must be committed to flipping that question: No, Mr. President, what is your commission trying to hide?
Thus far, the commission has been deservedly met with skepticism and, as of yesterday, court challenges including ours. In , commission officials told state election officers to 鈥渉old on submitting any data.鈥� This is a short-term victory but not a permanent solution.
This commission is only beginning its investigation, which every indication suggests will end in voter suppression. To protect voting rights, we must be prepared for the long fight, too.
Join our demand for transparency from the commission by signing our petition .
