Secretary of State Jim Condos has stepped up his rebuff of the Trump administration, saying he won’t comply — for now — with the demand that secretaries of state nationwide provide voter information to a federal commission investigating claims of election fraud. The Election Integrity Commission on Wednesday asked for voters’ dates of birth, voter histories, party affiliations, felony convictions, addresses, Social Security numbers and other personal information, according to Condos’ office. Condos said last week that he is “bound by law” to provide limited information that is publicly available. But Monday, citing new information and a public outcry over the weekend, Condos issued a statement saying he wouldn’t send any information until receiving certain assurances from the Trump administration.
“I refuse to respond or comply with any part of this data request until I receive answers to these important questions,” he said. “I am working with the Vermont attorney general’s office to understand all of our options, and we will take the full amount of time allotted to respond with what information that is already publicly available, if any, will be provided.”
The statement said Condos’ office had learned that the two methods the commission provided for submitting voter data – unencrypted email and an FTP site – are insecure. Condos described that as “baffling” and said he has asked the commission for more details on how the data will be used and securely transferred and stored.
He also reiterated that he will not provide “voters’ private and sensitive information,” adding that he had heard from many Vermonters about their concerns. “I will not compromise the security of Vermont voters’ personal data,” Condos said in the statement, “and my office continues to explore all options available to avoid assisting this sham commission.”
Full Article: Condos calls in attorney general to help find way to block Trump data grab – VTDigger.