Cuomo: State won’t give voter info to Trump panel on voting fraud

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) » The state of New York won’t hand over identifying information about its voters to President Donald Trump’s commission investigating voter fraud, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday.

New York state law contains strong policies against sharing sensitive voter information, the governor said in a statement. He added that the state also opposes attempts to harass or intimidate voters.

He then went on to suggest that he wouldn’t share the information with the commission even if allowed to by state law.

“New York refuses to perpetuate the myth voter fraud played a role in our election,” he said. “We will not be complying with this request and I encourage the Election Commission to work on issues of vital importance to voters, including ballot access, rather than focus on debunked theories of voter fraud.”

Officials in states including California, Kentucky and Virginia have already announced that they will not be complying with the request.

The Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity on Wednesday asked states to submit information including voter names, birthdates, the last four digits of Social Security numbers and voter history, as long as it isn’t prohibited by state law.

Trump has alleged, without evidence, that 3 to 5 million people voted illegally in last year’s election. In addition to the voter information, the letter asks state officials for suggestions on improving election integrity and to share any evidence of fraud and election-related crimes in their states.