Dozens of states—red and blue—have now refused to hand over part or all of the personal voter registration being demanded by Kris Kobach, the vice chair of Donald Trump’s voter suppression commission. According to a spreadsheet compiled by Matt Berg, 10 states have outright refused … but that doesn’t (as of this writing) include Maryland, where Attorney General Brian Frosh has informed the state Board of Elections that he considers disclosure of the information to be illegal. Frosh has a few other things to say about the request, too:
The assistant attorneys general representing the State Board of Elections have considered the request to the Board for the personal information of millions of voters and have determined that the requested disclosure is prohibited by law. These lawyers have advised the State Board of its obligations.
As Attorney General, I take seriously my responsibility to protect the voting rights and privacy interests of Maryland citizens. I find this request for the personal information of millions of Marylanders repugnant; it appears designed only to intimidate voters and to indulge President Trump’s fantasy that he won the popular vote. Repeating incessantly a false story of expansive voter fraud, and then creating a commission to fuel that narrative, does not make it any more true. There is no evidence that the integrity of the 2016 election in Maryland—or any other state—was compromised by voter fraud. I urge Governor Hogan and the State Board of Elections to speak out against this effort and to reject any further attempt to intimidate voters and obtain their personal information.
I will continue to take all necessary steps to protect the private personal information of Maryland voters and the integrity of Maryland’s voting process.
Dozens more states have said—some in much stronger language than others—that they will only provide data that’s already publicly available, and some of them are telling Kobach he has to pay for the data just like anyone else would.
from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2t9XYmX
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