Members of the Congressional Black Caucus and several House Democrats asked Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday to remove Kris W. Kobach as vice chair of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity and to cancel the requests made last month for states to turn over voter information.
The pressure comes after several lawsuits have been filed against the commission, alleging it violated federal law after asking states to turn over names, partial Social Security numbers, birthdays, political party affiliations, military status and other public information. The commission has stopped gathering the data until a judge resolves the matter.
In an 11-page letter sent to Mr. Pence, the lawmakers alleged Mr. Kobach may have violated the Hatch Act by touting his position on the commission in furtherance of his 2018 gubernatorial campaign. The Hatch Act forbids executive branch employees from using their positions to influence an election.
“Mr. Kobach’s partisan activity and his recent sanctions for dishonesty before a court of law cast a shadow over the Commission and undermine its integrity,” the lawmakers wrote. “Mr. Kobach should step down as Vice-Chair and be replaced with an individual who can be trusted to ensure that the Commission operates in a bipartisan manner to protect voter information and to protect the right of Americans to vote.”
The Electronic Privacy Information Center, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Common Cause and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law all have lawsuits pending against the commission, hoping to prevent it from collecting the information.
The lawmakers asked Mr. Pence to address questions and speculation about the commission at its next meeting on July 19.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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