President Trump took aim Saturday morning at the two dozen states refusing to heed his election integrity commission’s request this week for detailed voter records as his administration ramps up a review of the U.S. election system.
“Numerous states are refusing to give information to the very distinguished VOTER FRAUD PANEL,” Mr. Trump tweeted from his personal Twitter account Saturday morning. “What are they trying to hide?”
Indeed, at least 24 states have balked so far at the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity’s request this week for detailed records containing the names, birth dates and political affiliations of registered voters, complicating the administration’s plans to investigate unfounded allegations of voter fraud.
Mr. Trump announced the creation of the commission in May after claiming without evidence that millions of people voted illegally last November for his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. The commission requested voter data from all 50 secretary of states on Wednesday this week and is expected to discuss the data during its next meeting on July 19.
The commission’s request has encountered opposition from red and blue states alike, however, and 24 states so far have refused to supply the president’s panel with all or some of the voter data requested.
“I have serious reservations about the true intentions of this effort in light of the false statements this administration has made regarding voting integrity, the historical suppression of voting rights, and the way that such data has been used in the pass,” Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, responded to the commission’s request this week.
“My reply would be: They can go jump in the Gulf of Mexico, and Mississippi is a great state to launch from,” Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, a Republican, said of the administration’s request. “Mississippi residents should celebrate Independence Day and our state’s right to protect the privacy of our citizens by conducting our own electoral processes.”
The vice chair of the committee, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, prefaced Mr. Trump’s Saturday morning reaction with a similar response several hours earlier.
“Frankly, if a state like Kentucky or California won’t provide available information, one has to ask the question, ’Why not?’” Mr. Kobach told NPR on Friday. “I mean, what are they trying to hide if they don’t want a presidential advisory commission to study their state voter rolls?”
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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