President’s voter fraud panel stirs controversy
Critics challenge constitutionality and expertise of group
President Trump directed Wednesday his new voter integrity commission to home in on perceived fraud in the U.S. election system while insisting the panel has “no conclusions already drawn” about what its final recommendations will be.
“It’s about the concern of so many Americans that improper voting is taking place and canceling out the votes of lawful American citizens,” Trump said in the commission’s first meeting.
Trump formed the commission after stating that as many as 5 million people voted fraudulently in the 2016 election, with no evidence to support it. While critics say the panel was created to justify Trump’s claim, civil and voting rights groups have more serious concerns about the supporting role the commission could play in new voting restrictions in GOP-controlled states.
He made no mention of potential foreign interference as a concern even though U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia tried to penetrate voting systems in dozens of states.
In recent weeks, several groups have filed lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the commission among other things, in an attempt to dismantle the panel. The Democratic National Committee also formed its own commission to serve as a watchdog.
“It’s just a Trojan horse for this longstanding agenda,” said Dale Ho, director of the American Civil Liberties Union voting rights project. “Their belief is there are too many people voting,” he said.
The commission has been controversial since its formation. There is no major study showing the incidence of voting fraud is statistically significant. In fact, numerous studies found the incidence to be low.
“There’s a huge disconnect between the vice president’s repeated insistence that they have ‘no preconceived notions’ and several commissioners’ insistence that they know voter fraud exists,” said David Becker, director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research.
The panel is cochaired by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, Kobach is “a key architect behind many of the nation’s anti-voter and anti-immigration policies,” including strict photo ID requirements in Kansas requiring a birth certificate or passport to register. Since then, one of every seven Kansans who’ve tried to register has been blocked, according to the ACLU. Kobach also is running for governor. Normally, commissions are composed of equal numbers of individuals from the two parties who are not on the ballot to insulate against political motivation.
Further, the panel lacks experts on voting data and its request for data came before it had even consulted such experts.
Kobach said the panel’s mission is to identify nonU.S. citizens, individuals who may be double registered and felons on voting rolls. He also cited “fraudulent voting,” cyber security and voter intimidation as issue areas.