The Independent

Donald Trump to launch voter fraud investigat­ion

- MYTHILI SAMPATHKUM­AR

Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order to create a commission to investigat­e voter fraud and voter suppressio­n, which he felt cost him to lose the popular vote to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.

The Presidenti­al Commission on Election Integrity will likely be led by Vice President Mike Pence and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.

ABC News reports that the commission will be bipartisan and tasked with looking into the "vulnerabil­ities" of electronic and manual voting systems as well as potential fraud.

After the election win, Mr Trump claimed that Ms Clinton won three million more votes than him due to

illegal voter registrati­ons. He won the electoral college vote, which gave him the presidency. There is no evidence to support his claim regarding fraud.

No draft text of the of the order has been released as yet, but White House officials said that Democrats may be tempted to join the commission because it will also be looking into voter suppressio­n.

Voting rights advocates have said that minorities and lower-income Americans face barriers to voting.

Membership in the commission is still forming but so far the Secretarie­s of State of Indiana, New Hampshire, Maine, and a former official in the state of Ohio are set to join. Mr Trump won Ohio and Indiana in the election but Maine and New Hampshire went to Ms Clinton by a fairly large margin.

The commission is expected to produce its first report sometime next year.

 ?? (Getty) ?? The President claims Hillary Clinton winning the popular vote was due to voter fraud
(Getty) The President claims Hillary Clinton winning the popular vote was due to voter fraud

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