Maricopa County voters’ info will not be released to federal commission
Jul 3, 2017, 12:42 PM
(Shelby Lum/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)
(Shelby Lum/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)
The Maricopa County Recorder says county voters’ information will not be released to a new federal commission.
The Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity – chaired by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach – is investigating alleged presidential election voter fraud. The Commission said it sent a letter to every state last week, requesting publicly-available voter information.
Depending on the state, this may include voters’ full names, dates of birth, felony conviction information and even the last four digits of the voter’s Social Security number.
“I’m not just going to give it away, particularly the way it’s been requested,” Adrian Fontes told 12 News. “[And] I think that the request itself is a form of voter suppression. People are now saying, ‘Wait a minute. I don’t want to register to vote because my information might be out there for everyone to digest.’
A spokesperson for Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan told KTAR in an email she has not received the commission’s letter.
“Some voter data such as names and addresses are already public record,” Matt Roberts said. “But rest assured, we will not be releasing any of the voter information that we have that identifies anybody. For example, no date of birth, no social security number.
“This is an unprecedented request and against current law.”
Added Fontes: “Particularly from these folks, I want something in writing that says that they’re not going to use [the information] for any other purpose as delineated in the statute.”
President Donald Trump claims voter fraud caused him to lose the popular vote in the presidential election. The official tally in the presidential election was 65,844,610 votes for Hillary Clinton, and 62,979,636 votes for Trump. The president lost the popular vote to his rival by nearly 3 million. Studies have shown that statistically, vote fraud is close to non-existent.
At least 27 states have publically said they’re either not turning the voter information over or they’re unsure whether to comply. Trump attacked them on Twitter Saturday, saying “Numerous states are refusing to give information to the very distinguished VOTER FRAUD PANEL. What are they trying to hide?”
Many states – for example, Virginia – say the commission and its motives are political.
“Virginia conducts fair, honest, and democratic elections,” said Governor Terry McAuliffe. “There is no evidence of significant voter fraud in Virginia. This entire commission is based on the specious and false notion that there was widespread voter fraud last November.”
Kobach has had legal troubles in the past in his battle against voting fraud. For example, the American Civil Liberties Union sued him four times for voter suppression, winning each case. In the most recent case, Kobach was shown to have disenfranchised 18,000 Kansas voters by requiring birth certificates or passports in order to vote.
