Feds Drop Request For Voter Info After Push-Back from States

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July 11, 2017

After pushback and inquiries from across the country, the Federal Election Commission is telling states to hold off on fulfilling its request for voter data following a lawsuit from the Electronic Privacy Information Center. EPIC filed its lawsuit on June 28 to stop the collection of voter information, which came as a result of President Donald Trump’s doubts regarding voter integrity in recent elections.

Trump created the new commission on voter data based on his belief that three to five million people voted illegally in the 2016 presidential election. The FEC asked all fifty states to turn over their voting records so possible fraud in the 2016 presidential election can be investigated.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, vice chairman of the FEC, wanted every state to turn over voters’ names, birthdays, and the last four digits of their Social Security numbers, as well as their voting history the last ten years. Additionally, he requested reports of any election-related criminal convictions since the year 2000.

After the request, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill (R) wanted to make sure submitting any information was in the best interest of Alabamians. “We obviously want to be as helpful as possible in cooperating with Secretary Kobach, who’s a personal friend, a great leader, and one of the country’s premier advocates of voter integrity,” he told Yellowhammer. “However, we will not put the citizens of Alabama in a vulnerable position. We will not leave them with any level of concern about their personal information being shared with the federal government, or any other entity for that matter. We simply will not do that!”