Twenty-four states will not fully comply or won’t comply at all with The Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity formed under a presidential order. Most are Democrats, but not all. The Republican Mississippi secretary of state told them to go “jump in the Gulf of Mexico”.
Most Democrats say it gives in to the President’s fallacious conspiracy theory that there is widespread voter fraud.
That’s an absurd reason. If they cooperate, won’t they prove Trump was wrong? Isn’t that what they want?
It’s not really a surprise. Republicans have allegedly told Democrats in congress not to worry about it. They won’t let it happen.
Letters went out this week to the 50 secretaries of state requesting information about voters, going back to 2006
Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) said that she does not intend to release the data. Voter fraud is not widespread she said.
Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, a Republican, similarly said he won’t turn over any information to the panel, telling members of the voter fraud commission to, “go jump in the Gulf of Mexico.”
Pennsylvania is a “no”.
You can add PA to that list. We will not participate in this systematic effort to suppress the vote. https://t.co/EHnY2NJI5R
— Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf) June 30, 2017
-
The Importance of Prayer: How a Christian Gold Company Stands Out by Defending Americans’ Retirement
“California’s participation would only serve to legitimize the false and already debunked claims of massive voter fraud,” Democratic Secretary of State Alex Padilla said in a statement about the letter.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, both Democrats, said their states would not provide confidential information.
“New York refuses to perpetuate the myth voter fraud played a role in our election,” Cuomo said in a statement. “We will not be complying with this request.”
McAuliffe gave an equally ridiculous statement.
“This entire commission is based on the specious and false notion that there was widespread voter fraud last November. At best this commission was set up as a pretext to validate Donald Trump’s alternative election facts, and at worst is a tool to commit large-scale voter suppression.”
More on why they are refusing
Some are refusing because they don’t like Kris Kobach who is collecting the data. They say he unfairly supports strict voter laws.
Civil rights groups and Democratic lawmakers have called the commission a tactic to suppress votes against Republicans.
A spokesman for Vice President Pence, the chairman of the commission, defended the letters, noting they seek information that is available publicly under state laws.
On Saturday morning, Trump tweeted: “Numerous states are refusing to give information to the very distinguished VOTER FRAUD PANEL. What are they trying to hide?”
Numerous states are refusing to give information to the very distinguished VOTER FRAUD PANEL. What are they trying to hide?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 1, 2017
A number of the states will not release some of the data, like social security numbers. The numbers would show if illegal aliens are voting.
The states withholding some or all the information are Arizona, California, Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
