Former Labor Secretary Tom Perez on Thursday slapped down President Trump’s claim that there has been rampant voter fraud in elections, calling it “bunk.”
In CNN debate featuring the candidates running to lead the Democratic National Committee, Mr. Perez said he fought against stricter voter ID laws as head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division and highlighted how his office led the legal fight against stricter laws in Texas.
“We sued Texas and we won, because over a ten years period 46 million votes were cast. Zero, count them, zero, reported incidents of illegal non-citizen voting, two incidents of in-person voter fraud,” he said. “If we weren’t on television, I would call this a word that begins with a ’B.’ I will anything. It is bunk.”
“If you are in Texas you have to drive 120 miles to get an ID,” he said. “If you are poor that is a poll tax.”
Mr. Perez is thought to be a top contender to become the next chair of the DNC.
Peter Peckarsky, meanwhile, sounded dumbfounded when he was asked what is wrong with more voter ID laws.
“What would be wrong with more voter ID laws?” he said. “The ones that exist in general are a violation of the U.S. Constitution. The Republican Party by in large has chosen to disenfranchise people in this country simply because of the color of their skin.”
Mr. Peckarsky also said that if Mr. Trump has proof of a crime, he ought to share it.
“He ought to get sworn in and say, ’Ok here are the names of the 3 million people that I know about personally who voted,” he said. But he has not offered to do that, probably because those people don’t exist.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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