Letter to Trump: Prove vote fraud

WASHINGTON — A Democratic member of the Federal Election Commission sent a letter to President Donald Trump on Wednesday reiterating her request that he provide evidence for his claim that thousands of people were bused to New Hampshire to vote illegally in the 2016 elections.

Commissioner Ellen Weintraub told Trump in a letter emailed to the White House that the president’s unsubstantiated charge challenges the legitimacy of the election and could be cited by policymakers nationwide as a reason to pursue “unwarranted voter restrictions.”

“Our democracy depends on the American people’s faith in our elections,” Weintraub wrote. “Your voter-fraud allegations run the risk of undermining that faith.”

In February, Trump told a group of senators that “thousands” of people were “brought in on buses” from Massachusetts to “illegally” vote in New Hampshire, according to Politico. White House adviser Stephen Miller then called the issue of Massachusetts voters being bused into New Hampshire “very real” and “very serious.”

Last month, a team of Dartmouth College researchers examined the voting patterns in New Hampshire and found no evidence to support assertions of large-scale voter fraud.

Weintraub’s letter comes a month after she issued a statement publicly calling on Trump to immediately share his proof of illegal voting. In an interview with The Washington Post, she said she decided that it was necessary to make her request directly to the president in a letter after hearing from voters nationwide who were concerned about his allegations.

“I didn’t get any response,” she said of her first statement.