On Thursday, May 11, President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating 12-member bipartisan commission to examine:

1. weakness in U.S. voting systems;

2. improper and fraudulent voter registrations;

3. improper and fraudulent voting;

4. Trump's allegations of mass voter fraud in the 2016 election;

5. voter suppression.

 

The commission will provide the president with a report and issue recommendations to the states in 2018 – just in time for mid-term elections.

 

President Trump has named Vice President Mike Pence and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach as chair and vice chair, respectively.  Kobach is known as the King of Voter Suppression, who has repeatedly sought to impose some of the nation’s toughest voter ID laws in Kansas. Kobach has defended Trump’s claims of rigged elections and is a staunch supporter of Trump’s immigration executive orders.

 

The American Civil Liberties Union has asked the White House for records showing “concrete evidence” of fraudulent voting that would warrant the creation of such a commission.

ACLU Files FOIA Request for Voter Fraud Evidence

 

Sherrilyn Ifill, the president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, called the commission “a thinly veiled voter suppression task force,” adding that it was “designed to impugn the integrity of African-American and Latino participation in the political process.”

 

Academics and voting professionals from both parties have long rejected the notion that fraudulent voting is widespread.

 

We should be working on ways to increase voter participation since the US has one of the lowest voter turnouts. According to Pew Research Center, the US ranks 31st among 35 developed countries in voter turnout. We should be making it easier for our citizens to vote, not harder.

 

TAKE ACTION:

Contact your Members of Congress to demand Trump’s Election Commission be disbanded since there is no “concrete evidence” of voter fraud.

 

Suggested language for phone calls, or FAX using Resistbot by texting “RESIST” to 50409:

 

President Trump’s executive order to create an Election Commission has the potential for discriminatory policies, is a waste of taxpayer money, and perpetuating the myth that voter fraud is widespread and influences elections erodes our democratic processes. This commission is a sham to suppress voter turnout, particularly among minorities.

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Demand that this commission be disbanded since there is no “concrete evidence” of voter fraud.                                                                          

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