[EL] more on Trump commission EO

[Dan Meek]

The Republican Secretary of State of Oregon, Dennis Richardson, has 
issued a press release stating that he will decline to serve on the 
Commission, if asked to do so.

Also, I read the President's order as much broader than does Rick 
Hasen.  It is not limited to "a study of supposed voter fraud." It states:

    _Sec_. _3_. _Mission_.  The Commission shall, consistent with
    applicable law, study the registration and voting processes used in
    Federal elections. The Commission shall be solely advisory and shall
    submit a report to the President that identifies the following:

    (a)  those laws, rules, policies, activities, strategies, and
    practices that enhance the American people’s confidence in the
    integrity of the voting processes used in Federal elections;

    (b)  those laws, rules, policies, activities, strategies, and
    practices that undermine the American people’s confidence in the
    integrity of the voting processes used in Federal elections; and

    (c)  those vulnerabilities in voting systems and practices used for
    Federal elections that could lead to improper voter registrations
    and improper voting, including fraudulent voter registrations and
    fraudulent voting.


Dan Meek

	503-293-9021 	dan at meek.net <mailto:dan at meek.net>	855-280-0488 fax



On 5/11/2017 11:25 AM, Rick Hasen wrote:
>
> *My Thoughts on President Trump’s Executive Order Establishing “Voter 
> Fraud” Commission <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92477>*
>
> Posted on May 11, 2017 11:19 am 
> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92477> by *Rick Hasen* 
> <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> The President has just issued the promised executive order (I’ve 
> posted it below the fold).  A few notes:
>
>  1. Although it broadly states a goal to look at public confidence in
>     the election process, it seems to do this only by demanding a
>     study of supposed voter fraud (not, as had been rumored
>     <http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-trump-expected-launch-commission-election-integrity/story?id=47337222>)
>     voter suppression.
>  2. This breaks with the tradition of Carter-Ford, Carter-Baker, and
>     Bauer-Ginsberg of having two well respected bipartisan leaders in
>     charge of the Commission. It is not only led by the Republican
>     vice president, but reports suggest that Kris Kobach
>     <http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article149910457.html> will
>     be the vice chair. (The EO does not list the members of the
>     up-to-15 member commission.) That alone makes this commission
>     suspect
>     <http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2017/01/trump_s_voting_fraud_investigation_is_a_great_idea.html>.
>     The presence of some members of the Commission who have made it
>     their mission in life to exaggerate or lie about the extent that
>     voter fraud is a problem in this country today as an excuse to
>     make it harder to register and vote makes this Commission
>     illegitimate to begin with.
>  3. It is not clear whether any serious Democrats or election
>     professionals or academics who study election administration will
>     be involved in the effort. Many have called for a boycott
>     <http://www.moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com/2017/02/choosing-respond-pence-commission/>of
>     the Commission, and that could well happen.
>  4. What is the purpose of the Commission? It does not appear aimed at
>     studying voter fraud in a serious way. We already know that the
>     amount of voter fraud in the last election was very small. Very
>     very small.
>     <https://www.brennancenter.org/publication/noncitizen-voting-missing-millions> There
>     is absolutely no evidence supporting the President’s outlandish
>     claim that 3 million or more non-citizen voters voted in the 2016
>     elections. So the point is either to give the President validation
>     for his outlandish claims and/or to provide a pretext for passing
>     more laws to make it harder to register and to vote.
>  5. As far as pretext goes, the thing I’m most concerned about is
>     using the report’s “conclusions” as an excuse for Congress to pass
>     new legislation making it harder to register and vote, such as
>     repealing voter friendly portions of the 1993 NVRA (motor-voter
>     law). I suspect this is the end game. (We may get some insight
>     into this if and when Kobach’s notes
>     <http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article149757479.html> on
>     how to kill the NVRA are released.)
>  6. This is not a good day for those who believe we should have a
>     system where all eligible voters, but only eligible voters, can
>     easily cast a ballot that will be fairly and accurately counted.
>
> Continue reading → <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92477#more-92477>
>
>
>
> -- 
>
> Rick Hasen
>
> Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
>
> UC Irvine School of Law
>
> 401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
>
> Irvine, CA 92697-8000
>
> 949.824.3072 - office
>
> 949.824.0495 - fax
>
> rhasen at law.uci.edu <mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>
>
> http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
>
> http://electionlawblog.org <http://electionlawblog.org/>
>
>
>
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