{"slug":"trump-voter-fraud-commission-kobach","title":"Voter Fraud Commission: Using Government Power to Propagate Election Lies","date":"2017-05-11","lastUpdated":"2018-01-03","description":"In May 2017, Trump established the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, chaired by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach — an architect of voter suppression legislation — to investigate Trump's baseless claims that millions of people had voted illegally in 2016. The commission requested sensitive personal voter data from all 50 states; nearly all states refused. After eight months, the commission was disbanded without finding any evidence of significant voter fraud.","summary":"The commission was predicated on Trump's false claim that he had lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million due to illegal voting. It attempted to collect sensitive voter data including partial Social Security numbers, party affiliation, and voting history from all states. The ACLU and states sued over the data collection demands. The commission found no fraud, was shut down in January 2018, and its work was handed to DHS — where it also produced no substantive findings. Critics documented its primary purpose as political: to validate Trump's fraud claims and build infrastructure for voter suppression.","category":"rule-of-law","severity":"major","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/us/politics/trump-voter-fraud-commission.html","title":"Trump Disbands Voter Fraud Commission","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/kris-kobach-trump-voter-fraud-commission/2017/07/01/","title":"Kobach voter data collection request","publisher":"The Washington Post"},{"url":"https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/truth-about-voter-fraud","title":"The Truth About Voter Fraud","publisher":"Brennan Center for Justice"},{"url":"https://apnews.com/article/north-america-technology-us-news-ap-top-news-elections-cd13c2a236e745c4b9ce9fc78f6cfc5b","title":"After Trump disbands fraud panel, states asked to give DHS data","publisher":"The Associated Press"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["voter-fraud","election-integrity","Kobach","voter-suppression","first-term","rule-of-law"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"2016-11-27","title":"Trump claims millions voted illegally","summary":"Without evidence, Trump tweets that he would have won the popular vote if '3-5 million illegal votes' hadn't been cast. Election experts, secretaries of state, and both Republican and Democratic officials immediately and uniformly refute the claim."},{"date":"2017-05-11","title":"Commission established","summary":"Trump signs an executive order establishing the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, chaired by Pence with Kobach as vice chair. Its mandate is to study the 'vulnerabilities' in the voting process — premised on the unproven fraud claims."},{"date":"2017-06-28","title":"Commission requests voter data from all 50 states","summary":"Kobach sends letters to secretaries of state in all 50 states requesting extensive voter data. The letters request names, addresses, party affiliation, last four of Social Security numbers, voting history, and conviction records. Most states refuse."},{"date":"2017-07-01","title":"44+ states refuse data request","summary":"By the response deadline, 44 or more states have declined to provide all requested data, with many citing privacy concerns, state law restrictions, and skepticism about the commission's purpose. Several Republican secretaries of state publicly criticize the request."},{"date":"2018-01-03","title":"Commission disbanded — no fraud found","summary":"Trump disbands the commission without findings, citing legal challenges from states and the ACLU. In a statement, the White House says it will transfer the work to DHS — a move critics describe as avoiding transparency while continuing the same project."}],"location":{"name":"Washington, D.C.","lat":38.9072,"lng":-77.0369},"custom":{"era":"first-term","posture":"reported","warCrimeClassification":"enabling","internationalLaw":[{"statute":"International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights","article":"Article 25","provision":"Every citizen shall have the right and the opportunity to vote — using the pretense of fraud investigations to build voter suppression infrastructure violates the right to vote"}],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"Voters whose personal data was sought by the commission; the integrity of elections; communities historically subjected to voter suppression who faced renewed targeting","structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"President of the United States; established the commission","institution":"White House"},{"name":"Kris Kobach","role":"Vice Chair; architect of voter restriction laws","institution":"Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity"},{"name":"Mike Pence","role":"Chair; Vice President","institution":"White House"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2018-01-03","summary":"Updated with disbandment of commission."}]}}