Cue the data hysterics

It is amusing to listen to grandstanding politicians and our fellow travelers in the media wail about the Trump administration’s request for voter data from all 50 states. As it begins its work this month the president’s Commission on Election Integrity has asked for publicly available data — in other words, it’s a glorified public records request of the type that journalists make every day.

Yes, the data the commission is seeking is detailed and it is sensitive — including the voting history of every voter (including personal identifying information) in every state dating back to 2006. And to borrow a phrase from the president himself there is a case to be made that with this effort his team has launched its very own “witch hunt” — scouring for cases of voter fraud where they may not exist. The president still can’t justify his claims of widespread voter fraud back in November.

Still, the hypocritical pearl-clutching over the request for voter data by commission cochairman Kris Kobach is rich, coming from politicians whose own campaigns and political parties routinely buy access to such data to compile their voter lists.

“Kentucky will not aid a commotion that is at best a waste of taxpayer money and at worst an attempt to legitimize voter suppression efforts across the country,” huffed Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, who said she will not release “sensitive personal data” to the federal government.

And if the sensitive personal data is protected under the laws of her state then she shouldn’t release it. Indeed, a number of states — including Massachusetts — have said they will not (or can not) provide the commission all the data it is seeking.

But when a record is public it’s, well, a public record — and as every journalist knows, the government doesn’t get to judge the motivation of the person seeking it. Even when that person is representing Donald Trump.