ACLU of Washington Says “Presidential Commission on Election Integrity” Is a Sham, Should Be Disbanded

News Release: 
Friday, June 30, 2017
President Trump’s so-called “Presidential Commission on Election Integrity” is a sham commission that uses false claims of voting fraud as a pretext for voter suppression. Commission vice chair Kris Kobach has requested that state officials provide the commission with detailed information about every registered voter in the nation. This information would likely be used in commission efforts to keep citizens from exercising their fundamental right to vote.

Kobach, former Kansas Secretary of State, has a shameful record of anti-democratic actions and false statements. The ACLU has successfully challenged him numerous times over his voter suppression policies. He has been rebuked by a federal appeals court judge appointed by George Bush for the “mass denial of a fundamental constitutional right” for a voter restriction law he championed. He was also recently fined by a federal magistrate for making “patently misleading representations to the court” about documents related to the National Voter Registration Act.

The real threats to electoral integrity come from laws that impose needless barriers to voting. In America, too many eligible voters don’t vote.  The United States has one of the lowest voter turnout rates in the developed world.

“The ACLU urges all levels of government to do everything they can to encourage more people, not fewer, to participate in our democracy, said ACLU of Washington Executive Director Kathleen Taylor.  “The commission serves no useful purpose, is a waste of taxpayer money, and should be disbanded.”