Trump, Pence defend voter fraud panel at first meeting
At the first official meeting of President Trump’s voter-fraud task force, he and Vice President Mike Pence defended the commission’s purpose amid complaints over its transparency, potential bias and data-collection efforts.
The meeting of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity was closed to the public and media, but live-streamed on the White House website.
Pence, who chairs the commission, said it “has no preconceived notions or preordained results.â€
“One person, one vote is foundational,†Pence said. “The commission will identify laws, rules, policies, strategies and practices that will enhance the American people’s confidence in our elector al system.â€
Critics, however, have said the commission appears to have been stacked with members who support Trump’s unfounded claims that millions of fraudulent votes were cast in the 2016 election. Trump, who trailed in the popular vote by nearly 3 million, blamed that loss on immigrants in the country illegally who voted.
Nearly every credible study has concluded that voter fraud is either nonexistent or too small to affect election outcomes.
The commission has been hit with a flurry of lawsuits since requesting voter information from states, including dates of birth, addresses, partial Social Security numbers and election participation figures since 2006.
In response to a lawsuit from the public-interest research group Electronic Privacy Information Center, the commission stop ped collection of voter information on July 10 pending the court’s ruling, which is expected anytime.
Many states had already declined to release any voter information based on their own privacy laws and protections, and others have agreed to submit only partial information.
As he has before, Trump said Wednesday in his opening remarks that states’ refusal to release voter information was suspect. “If any state does not want to share this information, one has to wonder what they’re worried about. There’s something, there always is,†he said.
In addition to the EPIC lawsuit, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the American Civil Liberties Union, Public Citizen, Common Cause and the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund have sued, citing privacy concerns and other alleged violations.
The commission defended its request, saying it only asked for publicly available information on a voluntary basis, and that the data was necessary for strengthening public confidence in voting processes.
The commission met via teleconfer ence earlier in June, but Wednesday’s meeting, chaired by Pence, was the first public meeting.
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