Kansas Secretary of State — and court proven liar — has always been one of the worst politicians in America. His creations have been aimed at one goal — stopping Americans from voting and encouraging fear of others. www2.ljworld.com/...
From Arizona’s SB1070 to CrossCheck, Kobach has put more effort into stopping Americans from voting and redefining what a Democracy means than any other politician, period.
In his announcement for Governor, Kobach put as one of his top 3 issues stopping immigrants from entering and violating our elections.
Today, though, Bryan Lowry of the Kansas City Star broke a stunning story. In Kobach’s new role as Trump’s leader of “voter protection” Kris Kobach is prepared to turn the federal government into a vacuum of personal information.
In this letter, published by the Star, Kobach makes his case clear.
In addition, in order for the Commission to fully analyze vulnerabilities and issues related to voter registration and voting, I am requesting that you provide to the Commission the publicly available voter roll data for Connecticut, including, if publicly available under the laws of your state, the full first and last names of all registrants, middle names or initials if available, addresses, dates of birth, political party (if recorded in your state), last four digits of social security number if available, voter history (elections voted in) from 2006 onward, active/inactive status, cancelled status, information regarding any felony convictions, information regarding voter registration in another state, information regarding military status, and overseas citizen information.
Kobach has argued he needs the data to establish patterns. That is at odds with the Kris Kobach who made public statements as to his decision on what he thinks is contained within the data. Now, rather than trying to research it, he is trying to build a case that matches his belief
California Secretary of State Alex Padilla sees right through this claim.
www.kansascity.com/...
Kobach’s request faced backlash from Democratic election officials, including at least one who planned to buck the request.
California Secretary of State Alex Padilla said in a statement that he will “not provide sensitive voter information to a commission that has already inaccurately passed judgment that millions of Californians voted illegally.”
“California's participation would only serve to legitimize the false and already debunked claims of massive voter fraud made by the President, the Vice President, and Mr. Kobach. The President's Commission is a waste of taxpayer money and a distraction from the real threats to the integrity of our elections today: aging voting systems and documented Russian interference in our elections,” Padilla said.
Other secretaries of state have also joined in:
Why the concern? Because in a write up with the NY Times, SoS revealed exactly where this goes: a rework of the Voter Rights Act, or it’s elimination.
Should Kobach succeed in his goals, it would permanently redefine voting rights in America. As a member of Trump’s ad-hoc committee, his hope to achieve these goals prior to the 2018 elections would certainly be one way — a very anti-democratic way — to prevent voter participation and overly benefit the wealthy and the few.
Friday, Jun 30, 2017 · 12:31:10 AM +00:00
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Chris Reeves
Update:
I recognize there are numerous stories about this today. Even multiple on the REC list. I will recommend them all. While talking about Trump’s tweets or prognosticating the future of the party is entertaining, I wish almost every story on our list revolved around this effort.
A committee devoted to voter suppression should be the top story, in all formats, among every progressive in the country, at least today. Period.