A nonprofit public advocacy group called Wednesday for an investigation of a top federal elections official in the wake of a media report about his communications with one of the nation’s leading advocates of voting restrictions. Washington, D.C.,-based Allied Progress provided to The Associated Press a letter is said will be sent on Thursday to the Inspector General of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission asking it to look into communications between that agency’s executive director, Brian Newby, and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. The nonpartisan group calls itself a grassroots organization that aims to hold special interest groups accountable, and has taken up causes as diverse as voting rights, payday lending reform and keeping a crude oil export ban.
The request comes in the wake of an AP story based on emails obtained through open records requests showing that Newby used his ties to Kobach, a leading advocate of voting restrictions, to help secure the top job at a government agency entrusted with making voting accessible. Newby then used the federal position to implement rules requiring residents of Kansas, Alabama and Georgia to provide citizenship documentation to register to vote using a national form.
Its complaint also cited an interview Newby had with MSNBC in which he acknowledged communicating with election officials in those states about implementing the voter registration changes, without including commissioners in those discussions. Allied Progress said EAC policy prohibits nonpublic communications with any entity regulated by the EAC.
“It comes down to an issue of trust,” said Karl Frisch, executive director for the advocacy group. “The reason that these rules are in place is so that public officials don’t come under undue influence.”
Full Article: Nonprofit demands investigation of former Kansas election official / LJWorld.com.