7/6: Colorado Voter Records to be Turned Over to Trump’s Panel
As posted by Barbara McLachlan, Colorado HD-59 rep, on her Facebook page Sunday: “The White House has asked every state for the personal and public data of the country’s 200 million voters to collect evidence of election irregularities. The information will be turned over to a panel created when our president claimed that millions of illegal voters had robbed him of a popular vote victory in 2016. That claim has never been proven.
More than 20 states, governed by both Democrats and Republicans, have refused to comply, saying the request invades our privacy and is based on false claims of fraud. When LaPlata County Clerk Tiffany Parker says there is no fraud, I believe her, so I am bewildered that Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams will provide about a dozen points of voter data, including your full name, address, year of birth, political party, and voter history. ”
This panel’s Vice Chairman is Kris Kobach, who likes to bill himself as “the A.C.L.U.’s worst nightmare.” Kobach helped draft Arizona’s anti-immigrant SB 1070, must of which was later struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional. He’s proposed a national Muslim registry. As the Kansas Secretary of State, Kobach put 14% of Kansa citizens trying to register to vote on a suspension list for failing to meet his proof of citizenship requirements. Kobach had to be ordered by a Federal Judge to restore 18,000 voters to the Kansas voting rolls. The judge noted that there was only evidence of three non-citizens in Kansas voting between 2003 and 2013. As the prosecutor for voter fraud since, he’s convicted only 1 non-citizen.
Kobach is attributed as being the source behind Trump’s wild claims of people voting illegally. He is a champion of the CrossCheck program, which according to the NY Times “.. searches for double registrations using only voters’ first and last names and date of birth, and it generates thousands of false matches — John Smith in Kansas can easily be confused with John Smith in Iowa. Kobach co-wrote the RNC 2016 platform, advocating use of “CrossCheck” across all 50 states.
Thus we have an anti-immigrant voter suppression leader gathering voting records from all 50 states, under a president with authoritarian leanings and a willingness to say and do the unthinkable. What could go wrong?
SUGGESTED MEMBER SCRIPT:
Hi, my name is ___________. I am a Colorado resident from Durango (zip code). I’m <calling / writing> to you, Colorado’s Secretary of State, about the request for voter data from Trump’s Voter Fraud Panel. I ask that you protect the privacy of Colorado voters and refuse this request short of court order.
Over twenty states have objected to this request, on numerous grounds, including privacy, a history of voter suppression efforts by by Vice Chairman of the panel, and states’ rights. Coloradoans share these concerns.
WHO MEMBER IS TO CONTACT:
Wayne Williams, the CO Secretary of State
Phone: 303-894-2200
email:sos.elections@sos.state.co.us
WHEN IS MEMBER TO CALL OR WRITE:
IMMEDIATELY – Before July 14 compliance date
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CLICK ON LINKS BELOW:
Wikipedia’s entry on Kris Kobach
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kris_Kobach
NY Times article about Kris Kobach
The GOP’s Stealth War Against Voters
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/the-gops-stealth-war-against-voters-w435890