Confidence in the election system is a bedrock of our democracy. While we might not always agree with the outcome, faith that an election was conducted fairly and within the law helps to ensure the peaceful transfer of power.
Yet as a commission empaneled by President Trump begins to examine claims of voter fraud in last year’s presidential election, it is impossible to view that commission as an unbiased fact-finding mission. Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman — a Republican, by the way — joined at least 43 other states in refusing a request for voter information from the panel, and we encourage her to continue to protect voters from a commission that clearly is politically motivated.
The genesis of the commission was President Trump’s unsupported claim that 3 million to 5 million people voted illegally in the November election. Trump won the Electoral College but lost the popular election to Hillary Clinton by 2.9 million votes.
Making an assertion that damages the public’s confidence should require evidence rather than hot air, and Trump supporters insist the commission has been formed to find that evidence. That would be a reasonable explanation if the commission were focused upon unearthing the truth rather than promoting a political agenda.
Instead, the commission’s vice chairman is Kris Kobach, secretary of state in Kansas and longtime advocate of measures that critics say are aimed at voter suppression. In September, a federal appeals court blocked a Kansas law requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration; in 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a similar law in a 7-2 decision. Following his losing streak against the U.S. Constitution, Kobach sent an email the day following Trump’s election that said, “I have … already started regarding amendments to the NVRA,” indicating a desire to overturn aspects of the 1993 National Voter Registration Act.
Kobach’s crusade against the voter registration act marks him as the wrong person to galvanize public confidence, suggesting that his goal is to limit voter access rather than weed out illegal voters. As Justin Leavitt, an elections expert at Loyola Law School, told The Washington Post: “I think the email is wholly unsurprising. I won’t be shocked as more proof emerges that the cake is already baked.”
Several studies in recent years have found that illegal voting is rare, taking place at a level that does not justify measures resulting in voter suppression. At the same time, a national survey for the nonpartisan Brennan Center in 2006 found that millions of Americans do not have access to documentary proof of their citizenship.
The National Voting Rights Act requires states to allow voter registration at motor vehicle offices and by mail. Consider the alternative: If such registrations are not allowed, state officials can limit registration locations, intentionally disenfranchising minority populations or low-income populations or any group they consider unworthy of voting. That, sadly, has been all too common throughout American history. While the United States professes to believe that all men are created equal, voter suppression tactics long have belied that ethos.
Wyman said the administration’s claim of widespread voter fraud is “ludicrous on its face.” Until federal officials demonstrate that they are interested in the truth rather than finding evidence to fit a narrative, officials in Washington and elsewhere should continue to stand up for the rights of their citizens.
