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The work of the commission, in reality, is to suppress voting. Particularly among young and minority voters. Pence and the commission’s vice chair, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, have records of voter suppression efforts in their respective states, Indiana and Kansas.
Those two states have put in place voter suppression techniques that may end up being models for the commission, reported the New York Times via NPR.
“The real crisis we face is voter suppression, not voter fraud. Donald Trump told the American people that 3-5 million people voted illegally in the last election. But let’s be clear: It is a lie. There is no evidence whatsoever for it. And it sends a message to every Republican governor in the country to accelerate efforts to suppress the vote, to make it harder for people of color, poor people, old people, and young people, to participate in the political process.” -- Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders
“The Trump Administration is planning an unprecedented attack on voting rights.
We are witnessing the beginning of a nationwide voter-suppression campaign, led by the White House and enabled by Congress and the Department of Justice,” reports The Nation.
Robert Reich: “Trump’s commission to investigate his trumped-up claims of voter fraud in the 2016 election has requested states turn over personal information about everyone who has voted since 2006 -- names, addresses, birthdates, political party, criminal history, and the last four digits of their Social Security numbers.
“The request came from commission co-chair Kris Kobach, the secretary of state in Kansas and a fervent believer that voter fraud is widespread despite decades of evidence to the contrary.
“Several states -- California, Massachusetts, Kentucky, Virginia, and even Mike Pence’s home state of Indiana -- have already announced they won’t comply.
Let your Governor or Secretary of State (the chief election official) know you don't want your information shared with Trump’s bogus commission.
“Trump's real purpose is to legitimize more voter suppression in 2018 and 2020 -- ID and other laws that will minimize turnout of likely Democrats. He also wants to deflect attention from Russian interference on his behalf, which the U.S. intelligence community has already shown to have occurred.”
By Kia Makarechi
