Why we should be very afraid of Trumps vote suppression commission

[Gothmog]

Kobach is a nasty person who does not believe that non-whites should be allowed to vote. Putting Kobach on Trump's voter suppression commission means that we need to worry. https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2017/06/30/why-we-should-be-very-afraid-of-trumps-vote-suppression-commission/?utm_term=.dd78ecb60286

Most presidential commissions don’t accomplish very much — they meet a few times, do some research and produce a report, which then gets filed away and few people ever read, the list of recommendations seldom acted on. But President Trump’s Presidential Commission on Election Integrity is different.

Its goal is nothing less than the supercharging of recent Republican efforts to disenfranchise Democratic voters and permanently tip the scales of elections in the GOP’s favor. Its true name should be the Commission on Vote Suppression, and it’s getting right to work.

This commission is led by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who is the country’s premier advocate of vote suppression (Vice President Pence is the nominal chair, but as vice chair, Kobach is obviously running things). We’ll get more into Kobach’s agenda in a moment, but first, the latest news. This week the commission sent a letter to all 50 state governments demanding that they send the commission their full voter files, including names, addresses, birth dates, party affiliation, voting history and Social Security numbers for every voter in America.....

So what is Kobach’s commission going to do with the data it gets? We don’t know for sure, but it appears that it has two broad goals. The first is essentially a PR effort aimed at public opinion and state legislatures: Foster the impression that fraud is widespread, which then makes it easier for Republican-run states to impose draconian laws making it as hard as possible for people to register and vote. The second apparent goal is more direct: Create lists of allegedly questionable voters that they’ll give to states in order to convince them to purge those people from the rolls, by showing that they might be registered in more than one place.....

These people are not trying to determine whether there are problems with our voting system and find the best solutions to those problems. They have come together to promote the myth of voter fraud and enable vote suppression in order to advantage the Republican Party. No one should be fooled into thinking this enterprise is anything other than that.

[guillaumeb]

1. Recommended.

Far too many voters, and far too much of the media, are focusing on potential Russian interference while ignoring actual massive GOP interference.

[Alice11111]

8. Hell, they will probably just let Putin use it to throw more

elections. Plus, anything they do w it, will NOT help us.

[Catmusicfan]

2. Must Read

[Gothmog]

3. Trump stacks his voter integrity commission with the nations leading voter suppression architects

Trump's voter suppression commission is stacked with some of the nasty and most unethical voter suppressors in the country. http://www.salon.com/2017/06/30/trump-stacks-his-voter-integrity-commission-with-the-nations-leading-voter-suppression-architects/

President Donald Trump’s latest pick to help run the election commission will not ease the concerns of several state officials who already refusing to comply with the commission’s invasive probe. Hans von Spakovsky, a Heritage Foundation fellow known for hyping the voter fraud narrative for decades, was chosen Thursday by the Trump administration to another well-known advocate of voting restrictions, Kris Kobach, in a national voter fraud investigation.

Trump, along with other Republicans who embrace voter suppression, point to the work of von Spakovsky to peddle the myth of massive voter fraud. However, von Spakovsky has a history of exaggerating the prevailing nature of voter fraud, according to the Huffington Post. To the point, the White House has failed to provide any evidence of the president’s claim that over 3 million people illegally voted in California during the 2016 election....

To make matters worse, Kobach was recently fined for misleading the court in a case involving the National Voting Registration Act.

[leftstreet]

4. I want a list of all Russian hackers and bots n/t

[Gothmog]

50. From the Maine Sec. of State

Link to tweet

[Solly Mack]

5. K&R

I agree. It should worry people.

If we had a healthy democracy, Trump wouldn't be president.

If we had a healthy democracy - conservative/right-wingers/republicans - wouldn't be able to get away with the voter suppression already on the books in some states.

If we had a healthy democracy, our civil/human rights wouldn't be up for debate and under attack.

We don't have a healthy democracy and that means other abuses can - and will - happen.

The thinking, should anyone be entertaining such thoughts, that what is happening in America now is indicative of a healthy democracy is an example of just how far off the rails America has gone.

It's not normal. It's not a sign of a healthy democracy.

[raccoon]

37. Great post. nt

[NCTraveler]

6. K&R nt.

[CousinIT]

7. Today, I contacted my governor, SoS and AG. You should too. n/t

[pangaia]

11. I live in NY. We got game!!!

In the persons of-

Andrew Cuomo
Rossana Rosado
Kristiin Gillibrand
Chuck Schumer
and ----


TRUMPETS and DRUMS_


ERIC 'THE HAMMER' SCHENIEDERMAN


This team could beat Golden State !!!

[SummerSnow]

27. I live in NYC too, I bet they laughed when the letter came.

It's not funny , but it is serious that he is blatantly trying to stop people from voting

[pangaia]

29. I'm upstate near ROC.

Ok in another vein
EAT HERE. http://www.cafechinanyc.com/

You will thank me someday... LOL!!!!

[SummerSnow]

31. Ooh, thanks! I love Chinese food too.I have to check this out.

[pangaia]

33. OH in that case. :))))))))))))))))))

http://xianfoods.com/locations/

The Queens place is supposed to be the best.. I've only been to the one in Chinatown. but Chinese friends tell me....



Nom Wah Tea Parlor- Dim sum Guangzhou style
SPICY VILLAGE..
Shu Jiao Fu Zhou


These are just in Manhattan.

head over to Flushing and.. you will never get back,,,

But Cafe China is REALLY special.. I went to LA in Jan to eat at Chengdu Taste in the SGV.. Maybe the best Sichuan joint in the Northern Hemisphere... but Cafe China is right up there...

THIS is what you want----- 红油水饺 Pork Dumplings in Chili Oil (8) ----- it's those dumplings in the photo right at the top of MENU

Let me know when you're done and I;ll send some more...

[zentrum]

14. Absolutely. And call the same in CA

...BTW, even if you don't live there.

To thank them for refusing.

CA is the state he's really after.

[First Speaker]

9. Angry, yes. Afraid? Fuck that...

...they should be afraid of us. The American people. Who have died to ensure democracy before, and will again, if push comes to shove. We've seen Kobaches before. In 1775. In 1861. In 1941. The Americans of those generations knew what to do with the Kris Kobaches of this world. I don't think we've forgotten. The Founders knew that liberty was precious, and fragile. And that eternal vigilance was its price. If these people really attack the basis of our democracy, we'll know what to do. Frightened people are ripe for slavery. The people of America are not.

[blue-wave]

18. Very Well Said

Spot on and I truly believe that before this fiasco is over, most Americans will finally realize that we have basic beliefs and values that transcend all differences. The giant is awakening. Again, very well said.

[sheshe2]

10. K&R

Thank you for info, Gothmog.

[lark]

12. Even KS is refusing to participate.

We know what they will do with the data they gather, give it to Russia to facilitate even more drastic hacking and vote stealing.

[zentrum]

13. They're going to start

....compiling lists. I.e.---Democrats are to be harassed, audited, or suddenly "randomly" called out for more security checks at airports.

I know I sound paranoid, but this is how it begins. With the principle of an authoritarian center knowing your contact info and how you are registered.

Suddenly your registration "gets lost". And you're not on the list at the polling station. Oh look at that---the "Democratic rolls are way down".

Plus, there's just the creepy intimidation of it.

How dare he do this because he lost by 3M in CA.

Take to the streets again!

[Generic Other]

17. 100% on the mark

This is how democracy dies.

[SummerSnow]

23. Even said in the movies...

[pangaia]

30. You are NOT paranoid...

[mac56]

15. Proof once agan that Republicans can't win a fair fight.

[Generic Other]

16. 21 states refusing to give Kobach non-public voter data:

CA, CT, GA, IN, KY, MA, MN, NC, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, TN, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI

[Gothmog]

32. It is up to 24 states

Link to tweet

[C Moon]

19. I believe another goal is to attempt to overshadow the truth behind Russian being involved

in our last election (and probably some time before that).
The GOP is very good at sleight of hand.

[SummerSnow]

24. I think the same thing

[diva77]

20. Please contact your state's secretary of state to protest this commission. Here is roster of SOS's

http://www.nass.org/index.php/about-nass/alt-roster-2016/

[Ligyron]

34. Thanks!

I used that to contact mine!

[amrita73]

21. Truly alarming

There is nothing "paranoid" in being truly deeply worried here.

It's not like attacks on the citizenry have not happened before, but this is truly ugly stuff,
and it's definitely to try to intimidate, harass, and God knows what else.

Some go around saying they want to kill Democrats ever so casually.

[tiptonic]

22. Gandhi

Where is our Mahatma Gandhi? With his home spun cloth?

[SummerSnow]

25. They are talking about this now on MSNBC

[spanone]

26. it's scary as hell. it's a PARTISAN commission. Kobach has been a 'fraud' nut for a long time

[Gothmog]

28. Kansas will not comply-Kobach is SOS of Kansas

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

35. Add Texas to the list

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

49. 41 states have refused request for voter info

Link to tweet

[tammywammy]

55. Texas along with many others on this list ARE going to provide public information.

Just not everything that the request listed.

[mitch96]

36. suppression commission

The first thing I thought of when I heard the things they want to know was, where is the concentration camps.. Far too easy for someone with that information to put you into a nice little box saying you are on this side or that side of politics and should be "looked at"....
Geobbels would love it...
m

[KT2000]

38. also hand over to Mercers

and then Russians. Super targeted influence ahead.

[Gothmog]

53. #ElectionIntegrity Commissn Wld Give #Trump, #GOP Means to Steal #Elections

Link to tweet

[bigtree]

39. k&r

[MagickMuffin]

40. So, How do we fight back???

What is our recourse???

Greg Abbott has already made plans to give over our data. I called the TX SOS yesterday, and was told he would make his recommendation later in the day and to check the press release on their site. I looked yesterday and didn't see anything posted one way or the other.

What can be done to stop this invasive tactic into our voter rolls???

[Gothmog]

52. In Texas there is a mechanism to file complaints

https://www.democraticunderground.com/107835703

[brer cat]

41. Thanks, Gothmog.

I'm very glad to see the long list of states refusing, including Kansas. Guess Kobach the Vice Chair of the commission doesn't communicate with Kobach the SOS in Kansas or he would know this is not possible.

[Gothmog]

48. 44 states rebuff Trump voter fraud commission

Link to tweet

[L. Coyote]

42. "impossible to look at "election integrity" w/o investigating #votersuppression"

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[orangecrush]

43. From not recognizing Pride day

Last edited Sun Jul 2, 2017, 01:52 AM - Edit history (1)

To trying to gain control of the electorate, Trump is a carbon copy of Putin.

RESIST

[ancianita]

44. They intend to rig 23 states' elections from Washington, DC Central. That simple.

[Gothmog]

47. I love Maryland's response

Link to tweet

[George II]

45. Thank you, sir. ALL Americans should read this and the entire Washington Post article.

[Gothmog]

46. Lawsuit Slams Election Commissions Request: Without Precedent And Crazy

The first lawsuit http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/lawsuit-slams-election-integrity-commission

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), a privacy advocacy group, filed suit on Monday against President Donald Trump’s bogus “election integrity” commission over its request to all 50 states for sensitive voter information.

“[T]he Commission had already committed two egregious security blunders,” EPIC said in a statement on its website. “(1) directing state election officials to send voter records to an unsecure web site and (2) proposing to publish partial SSNs that would enable identity theft and financial fraud.”

In its suit requesting a temporary injunction against the commission’s data collection activities, filed in the D.C. District Court, the group called the request for partial Social Security numbers “both without precedent and crazy.”

It also accused the commission of violating the E-Government Act of 2002, which requires a privacy impact assessment be completed and made available to the public before the collection of personal information by the federal government using information technology. No assessment was conducted before requesting voter data, the suit alleges.

The commission’s broad request for data combined with the lack of any privacy assessment could “cause irreparable harm to EPIC’s members,” the suit alleged.....

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly gave the defendants until 4:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday to respond to the suit.

[ancianita]

58. Excellent information, thanks. End runs around these 45 agents seem to be the future.

[Warpy]

51. 44 states have so far told him various forms of "hell no."

and the remaining states either don't have the standard privacy laws concerning voter rolls or sport voting officials who haven't bothered to consult their own laws and will be sued.

This is an overwhelming rebuke of a partisan fishing expedition and it's gratifying to see it.

[Gothmog]

54. NYT-Happy Fourth of July! Show Us Your Papers

This is a great editorial https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/03/opinion/voter-fraud-data-kris-kobach.html

The reviews of President Trump’s new commission on election integrity are rolling in, and they’re not good.

“Disingenuous.” “Repugnant.” “At best a waste of taxpayer money.” “A tool to commit large-scale voter suppression.”

State officials across the country responded to the commission’s slapdash request last week for detailed voter data in the manner previously reserved for emailed pleas from a Nigerian prince.

Delete, said secretaries of state in Kentucky, Minnesota, Tennessee, California — more than 20 states refused to comply, red and blue and every hue in between. “They can go jump in the Gulf of Mexico,” Mississippi’s secretary of state, Delbert Hosemann, a Republican, responded.....

The better question is what Mr. Trump and his allies so desperately hope to find. Remember that the commission was reverse-engineered to provide a veneer of legitimacy to Mr. Trump’s bogus claims that millions of noncitizens voted in 2016 — his explanation for losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by almost three million. (One would think that sitting in the Oval Office might have eased his pain.) But the circumstances of its creation are secondary to its real goal — to make voting harder for millions of Americans, on the understanding that Republicans win more elections when fewer people vote. According to the election-law expert Rick Hasen, the commission will probably aim to roll back parts of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, also known as the motor-voter law, which has registered millions of voters.

The real problem, of course, isn’t fraud. It’s low turnout — in a good year, nearly half of all eligible American citizens fail to vote. As the nation marks 241 years of independence, the most pressing voting issue should be getting those tens of millions of nonparticipating Americans registered and to the polls, so that their voices can be heard. If the paranoid voter-fraud crusaders devoted a fraction of their inquisitorial energy to solving that vexing problem, now that would be something to celebrate.

[L. Coyote]

56. K & R

[Gothmog]

57. 44 states not cooperating

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

59. ACLU OF NH CHALLENGES DISCLOSURE OF STATEWIDE VOTER INFORMATION

Sorry for the all caps in the heading. The ACLU has filed a lawsuit https://www.aclu-nh.org/en/press-releases/aclu-nh-challenges-disclosure-statewide-voter-information

- The American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire today sued to bar the New Hampshire Secretary of State William Gardner from illegally disclosing statewide information concerning New Hampshire voters. The complaint can be found here.

On Friday, June 30, 2017, Secretary Gardner agreed to produce to the recently-created Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity (the “Commission”) statewide information concerning over 984,000 registered voters’ names, domicile and mailing addresses, and party affiliation, if any. This response ignored New Hampshire laws that place strict and binding requirements on how the State is to produce voter information. (See RSA 654:31).

“The legislature carefully designed strict restrictions on the sharing of voter information for good reason: to protect voter privacy,” stated Representative Neal Kurk (R-NH), a plaintiff in the lawsuit. “These protections would be rendered meaningless by the transfer of this data to the Commission, which has established no security protocols and intends to post everything it receives online.”

Representative Kurk was involved in the crafting of the relevant statutes under RSA 654:31, which limit the prospect of mass dissemination of this statewide voter information in order to ensure that statewide voter information is only used for political purposes, not for commercial gain. (RSA 654:31(VI) explicitly prohibits voter information from being used for commercial purposes.)

“The Secretary of State has no statutory authority to release a copy of the statewide public checklist to anyone other than a political party, political committee, or candidate for New Hampshire office,” stated Senator Bette Lasky (D-NH), another plaintiff in the case.