Commission on voter fraud IS the fraud ... on you
President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week creating a voter-fraud commission, a waste of taxpayer money and maybe his biggest con job yet. How do we know this? Two words. Kris Kobach. Name sound familiar? This is the guy who worked with then-Arizona state Sen. Russell Pearce to craft the infamous and unconstitutional SB 1070. As Secretary of State in Kansas, Kobach used ridiculous claims about voter fraud to get himself elected and pass laws that had more to do with voter suppression that protecting elections.
The Kansas City Star editorial board said of him: “Kobach has been exposed as a big fraud on the issue of voter fraud, which studies have found to be almost nonexistent in America.”
How non-existent? In 2014, Justin Levitt, a professor at the Loyola Law School, described the “problem” for the Washington Post. He’s studied claims of voter fraud for years and was able to “track any specific, credible allegation that someone may have pretended to be someone else at the polls, in any way that an ID law could fix.” He found 31 incidents since 2000. He added, “To put this in perspective, the 31 incidents below come in the context of general, primary, special and municipal elections from 2000 through 2014. In general and primary elections alone, more than 1 billion ballots were cast in that period.”
Thirty-one. Out of more than a BILLION. Still, President Donald Trump appointed a commission. And put Kobach in charge.
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a Freedom of Information request with the White House, demanding any evidence the president may have about voter fraud. He’s shown no proof since his ridiculous claim that 3 million non-citizens voted in the last election, a silly accusation born of embarrassment over losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton.
Trump’s commission isn’t about keeping non-citizens from voting. It’s about keeping citizens from voting. It’s a classic bait-and-switch con job. Lure the suckers by in promising something they want and sell them something you want.
Dale Ho of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project put it this way: “Kris Kobach is the king of voter suppression … It’s an effort to freeze the electorate in place. It disproportionately affects young people, people who register for the first time … people of color ... In a democracy, you can either compete for these votes or you can try to suppress them. The latter is Mr. Kobach’s strategy.”
It’s the president’s strategy, too, apparently. Engender fear. Demonize a segment of society. Fool voters into giving you what you want.
It’s something Trump might have first heard about back in 2010, when Kobach partnered with Russell Pearce, the Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature and then-Gov. Jan Brewer. You’re welcome, America. (No ... Actually, we’re sorry.)