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Voter Fraud Commission: Using Government Power to Propagate Election Lies

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.

Record summary

Grade

Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

Executive actions that exceed constitutional authority, circumvent statutory constraints, or weaponize government institutions for political ends. Scale and definitions

Status
Concluded
Incident date
Record updated
Location
Washington, D.C.
Category
Rule of Law
Legal posture
Reported
War-crime classification
Enabling conduct
Verification
Independently verified
ICC relevance
No
Sources
4 cited
Stable ID
trump-voter-fraud-commission-kobach
Victims
Voters whose personal data was sought by the commission; the integrity of elections; communities historically subjected to voter suppression who faced renewed targeting
Alleged responsible parties
  • Donald Trump, President of the United States; established the commission— White House
  • Kris Kobach, Vice Chair; architect of voter restriction laws— Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity
  • Mike Pence, Chair; Vice President— White House

Key points

  • The commission was established to investigate Trump's baseless claim that 3-5 million people had voted illegally in 2016 — a claim Trump made to explain losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by nearly 3 million votes
  • The commission requested voter data from all 50 states including names, addresses, dates of birth, party affiliations, last four digits of Social Security numbers, voting history, felony convictions, and military status
  • Nearly all states refused the data request in whole or in part — including Republican-controlled states; at least 44 states declined to provide all requested data
  • At least 20 lawsuits were filed against the commission over the data collection demands and lack of transparency; the ACLU challenged it on privacy and due process grounds
  • The commission met only twice before being disbanded in January 2018 — after eight months — without publicly releasing any findings of significant voter fraud
  • The Brennan Center for Justice documented that voter fraud in American elections is extraordinarily rare — estimated at 0.0001% to 0.0025% of ballots cast — making the commission's premise false

Overview

The Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity was established to find evidence for a lie. Trump had claimed, without any evidence, that millions of people had voted illegally in 2016 — the only explanation he offered for losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by nearly 3 million votes.

The commission's vice chair, Kris Kobach, was one of the nation's most prominent advocates for voter ID laws and other measures that critics documented disproportionately suppress minority voting. His presence signaled the commission's purpose.

What the Commission Found

After eight months and two meetings, the commission was disbanded. It publicly released no findings of significant voter fraud — because there were none.

The Brennan Center for Justice had documented the actual rate of voter fraud in American elections: between 0.0001% and 0.0025% of ballots cast. Studies of specific elections, voter rolls, and fraud allegations consistently found that the documented cases were vanishingly rare and nowhere near the scale Trump claimed.

The commission's failure to find what it was looking for confirmed what election experts had said from the start: the premise was false.

The Data Collection Attempt

The most alarming aspect of the commission was its data collection request. Requesting Social Security numbers, party affiliation, voting history, and felony convictions for all registered voters in the United States — in a single collection administered by political appointees with voter suppression records — raised obvious concerns about how the data would be used.

Nearly every state, including Republican-controlled states, refused. The refusals came not just from Democratic secretaries of state but from Republican officials who recognized that the request exceeded any legitimate election integrity purpose and raised serious privacy and legal concerns.

International law engaged

InstrumentProvisionWhat it protects or prohibits
International Covenant on Civil and Political RightsArticle 25Every 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

Update log

  1. Updated with disbandment of commission.

Sequence of events

  1. Trump claims millions voted illegally

    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.

  2. Commission established

    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.

  3. Commission requests voter data from all 50 states

    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.

  4. 44+ states refuse data request

    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.

  5. Commission disbanded — no fraud found

    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.

Sources

  1. Trump Disbands Voter Fraud Commission — The New York Times
  2. Kobach voter data collection request — The Washington Post
  3. The Truth About Voter Fraud — Brennan Center for Justice archived ✓
  4. After Trump disbands fraud panel, states asked to give DHS data — The Associated Press

How this record was published

Manually curated This entry was added directly and does not carry an automated audit trail.

About our editorial methodology →

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