Allegations of collusion between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russian agents continue to dominate American headlines, but the White House is trying to breath life into an election fraud inquiry of another sort. Mr. Trump had alleged after his victory that between “three million and five million” people voted illegally in the Presidential election, and has argued his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton won the popular vote only because of this. In office, he appointed a Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, with the mandate to identify “vulnerabilities that lead to improper registrations and voting”.
The Commission’s first meeting is to take place on July 19, but its request to all 50 States for voter data has triggered a controversy. At least a dozen States have refused to part with the data, and three law suits have been filed by rights groups. Vice-President Mike Pence heads the Commission, but it is run by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who many activists blame for rules that shrink rather than expand voting rights in his State. The appointment of Hans von Spakovsky, a scholar at the Washington-based Heritage Foundation who has been an advocate for voter identity card, has also polarised the discussion.
Unlike in India, there is no national authority that manages federal elections in the U.S. Voter rolls are made and maintained by counties or towns, which are combined to make a State list. Local authorities are expected to clean the list occasionally by removing the dead and those who shifted out of the place. A National Voter Registration Law in 1993 — the only federal election regulation — put safeguards against accidental or deliberate removal of eligible voters from the list. Many States require voters to produce a photo identity card while voting, but some don’t.
Voting tax
Voting rights campaigners argue that stricter identification requirements imposed by Republican States over the past 15 years have the effect of voter suppression and a “voting tax”. However, supporters of identity laws, such as Mr. von Spakovsky, say there is no evidence of voter suppression, and a national matching of electoral rolls is essential. Mr. von Spakovsky said in an interview last week that the Commission was willing to look into voter intimidation also, and it did not plan to proceed with the presumption of widespread voter fraud. Rights activists say given the composition of the commission, it will only seek evidence for its premeditated and prejudiced opinions.
The Commission has asked for names, addresses, birth dates, partial Social Security numbers, party affiliation, felon status and other data for every registered voter in the country from States. Many States, some of them Republican, have reacted strongly. “Numerous states are refusing to give information to the very distinguished VOTER FRAUD PANEL. What are they trying to hide? Mr. Trump said on Twitter.
The Commission argues that it has only sought publicly available information, and will use it to run a nationwide matching to ensure that names are not duplicated and the dead ones are not eligible. Opponents say that such a matching could produce false positives, and would lead to disqualification of eligible voters. Mr. Trump repeatedly spoke of the voter fraud during the campaign, and asked his supporters to safeguard against the election being “stolen from us”. A federal special prosecutor’s investigation into Russian intervention in American election to help Mr. Trump is now under way. Meanwhile, public faith in the integrity of the American election process remains under sever strain.
