President Donald Trump’s election fraud commission is coming under fire not only for requesting mass amounts of voter information but also for including two key members who have been accused of championing legislation that would suppress voter participation along partisan lines. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach was appointed the vice chairman of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity after Trump signed an executive order in May. … “We all agree American elections need to be secure,” said Sophia Lin Lakin, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. “What we’re looking into here is to ensure … all of the information is being considered under the light.” Kobach, who launched his campaign for governor of Kansas last month, has supported Trump’s unfounded claim that millions of people voted illegally in the 2016 election.
In 2011, Kansas passed Kobach’s legislation, the “Kansas Secure and Fair Election (SAFE) Act,” which requires newly registered Kansas voters to prove their citizenship upon registering and requires all voters to show photo identification when casting an in-person ballot.
Calling the SAFE Act the most restrictive voter registration law in the country, Micah Kubic, executive director of the ACLU of Kansas, said he believes the selection of Kobach as the commission’s vice chairman signals the Trump administration is looking implement similarly restrictive voting laws nationwide.
Full Article: Voter fraud commission worries civil rights advocates | McClatchy Washington Bureau.