Bennet calls for investigation into Trump voter commission

WASHINGTON » U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado joined with two of his Democratic colleagues Wednesday in calling for an investigation into a controversial White House panel on voting.

In a letter to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, Bennet and Democratic U.S. Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota asked that the federal watchdog examine the spending and activities of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity.

“We fear that the manner in which the (commission) is conducting its work will prevent the public from a full and transparent understanding of the commission’s conclusions and unnecessarily diminish confidence in our democratic process,” wrote the three lawmakers.

The panel has taken heat since its inception, as its creation came amid baseless claims by President Donald Trump that millions of people illegally cast their ballots last year.

Critics also have argued that its work will do little to stem voter fraud and instead will depress turnout; more than 3,000 Coloradans have canceled their voter registration since the panel asked for information from state officials.

Voter issues in Colorado are rare. Between January 2012 and early November 2016, there were 32 charges of various voting offenses, according to statistics compiled by the Colorado District Attorneys Council. Four convictions came of those charges.

Separately, the Colorado Secretary of State’s office released a study last month that found 19 of Colorado’s nearly 3 million voters in last year’s election may have cast two ballots and that 38 of them might have voted in another state.