A Reminder That Trump’s Presidential Commission on Election Integrity is a Farce
Since January 20, 2017, New Hampshire and the country at large have seen the beginning of a full-out assault on our most fundamental right: the right to vote. In more than 33 states, lawmakers have proposed at least 90 pieces of legislation aimed at restricting access to the ballot box for millions of Americans.
At the same time, the Trump Administration’s Presidential Commission on Election Integrity, which is meeting today in Manchester, has doubled down on these efforts to make it harder for citizens to exercise their right to vote. Over the last eight months, Trump and his fraudulent commission have zeroed in on New Hampshire as one of their primary targets. While the Vice Chairman of the commission has concocted baseless and widely debunked claims of voter fraud in the state, New Hampshire’s Republican-led legislature has launched a full out assault on the voting rights of young people.
Today, Trump’s voter fraud commission will again try to convince us that lies they’ve been spinning are true. We should hold fast to the truth.
The truth is there is no evidence of significant voter fraud in New Hampshire or illegal voting by non-New Hampshire residents. The truth is we should be appalled at the commission’s attacks on the rights of young people to vote.
Every four years, the country’s eyes turn to New Hampshire to bear witness to citizens of all ages and party affiliations weighing in on the presidential election. In most inspiring fashion, we all watch young people and college students deeply engaged in the political process. This is something to admire and celebrate. Yet recent comments by the commission’s leadership suggest that the first target of the commission’s suppression efforts will be the 18 year olds and college students who have newly gained their right to the ballot box. It appears that Trump’s commission, its leadership and some members of the New Hampshire legislature are on a mission to fix something that isn’t broken.
Indeed, earlier this year, the Republican-led NH Legislature passed Senate Bill 3, a bill that forces those wishing to register to vote to prove that they live in the state with loads of paperwork that has to be turned around in a tight deadline, and worse, that compels state officials to make invasive home visits in an effort to prove residency. This is a costly, inefficient, and ineffective way of preventing voter fraud in New Hampshire — a state with zero proven cases of fraud in the first place.
Supported by the Priorities USA Foundation, the League of Women of New Hampshire is challenging this unfair and restrictive law in court. Just today, a New Hampshire judge called the law’s penalties “a very serious deterrent on the right to vote” and has ordered the state not to enforce them. The judge also expressed “serious concerns” with other aspects of the law, a clear sign that this fight is far from over.
The Priorities USA Foundation, a progressive advocacy organization committed to defending voting rights around the country and challenging unfair voting laws wherever they arise, will not back down from this fight. Priorities has also supported a lawsuit against an Indiana law that is likely to lead to the closing of nearly half of the voting precincts in a heavily African-American and Hispanic county in the state.
Let’s be frank: everything this commission stands for cuts against our most fundamental values as Americans. We’ve endured enough of this backwards thinking on the one thing we should all agree on — that every American ought to have their unabridged right to vote. Real public servants don’t attack basic American rights and freedoms; they stand up for the people they were chosen to represent. For this reason, all Democrats should resign from this sham commission and stand for greater access to the ballot box for all American irrespective of age, race, income, or party affiliation. The fairness of our elections and the integrity of our democracy depends on it.
