House

Dem rep rips ‘sham’ voter fraud commission

by Jacqueline Thomsen - 09/12/17 3:55 PM ET

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) ripped President Trump’s voter fraud commission, accusing it of “suppressing the vote” in a series of tweets Tuesday.

Cummings called the commission a “sham voting commission,” saying that “voting is a right, not a crime.”

“The only thing we learned today is that ‘voter fraud’ is a myth & this Commission is suppressing the vote,” he tweeted. “This commission regularly promotes unsubstantiated claims about ‘voter fraud’ that undermine our democracy.”

Cummings called for lawmakers to focus on “protecting & expanding the franchise for minorities whose right to vote has been under attack nationwide.”{mosads}

“We should be making it easier for all Americans to vote — students, minorities, the disabled, the elderly, everyone,” he tweeted. “Instead, this Administration is wasting our tax $ on a #ShamVotingCommission to justify tactics that will suppress votes. That’s a disgrace.”

The only thing we learned today is that “voter fraud” is a myth & this Commission is suppressing the vote. https://t.co/8vZvUmu2fz

— Elijah E. Cummings (@RepCummings) September 12, 2017

This commission regularly promotes unsubstantiated claims about “voter fraud” that undermine our democracy. https://t.co/BjohE0DjYF

— Elijah E. Cummings (@RepCummings) September 12, 2017

Why is the #ShamVotingCommission considering background checks on voters? Voting is a right, not a crime. https://t.co/aWSJqScJvi

— Elijah E. Cummings (@RepCummings) September 12, 2017

Our concern should be on protecting & expanding the franchise for minorities whose right to vote has been under attack nationwide.

— Elijah E. Cummings (@RepCummings) September 12, 2017

Instead, this Administration is wasting our tax $ on a #ShamVotingCommission to justify tactics that will suppress votes. That’s a disgrace.

— Elijah E. Cummings (@RepCummings) September 12, 2017

Cummings’s tweets come as voter fraud commission head Kris Kobach is defending a column he wrote for Breitbart News alleging possible widespread voter fraud in New Hampshire.

“This obviously is a subject of concern because there have often been anecdotal reports of people driving into New Hampshire because it’s a same-day registration state and it’s a battleground state,” Kobach said.

Kobach said Tuesday that in order to prove whether illegal voting swayed the state’s elections, election officials would have to investigate the voters’ status and then undergo the near-impossible task of finding out for whom any illegal voters cast their ballots.

“Until further research is done, we will never know the answer regarding the legitimacy of this particular election,” he said.

The commission is also facing allegations that members violated federal law by using personal email accounts instead of their federal ones while conducting work for the commission.

Tags