Congresswoman Pingree joins lawmakers to question Homeland Security over Voter Fraud Commission

The members of Congress asked some pointed questions to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security about President Trump’s future intentions to potentially make it harder for Americans to vote, and underscored the importance of protecting voting rights.

 

“From the beginning, it was clear that this Commission was created to give cover to the President’s false claim that large numbers of people voted fraudulently and to distract from investigations of Russian election meddling,” Pingree said. “Over and over, this claim has been proven false—even with its incredible lack of transparency and biased leadership, this Commission was not able to show otherwise. I’m very concerned that this misleading work may continue at the Department of Homeland Security. We absolutely need to know what steps the Department is taking to keep this from becoming another blatant attempt at justifying voter suppression.” 

 

“The federal government should be protecting voting rights—not making it harder for Americans to vote,” Kilmer said. “Rather than having the Department of Homeland Security focus on unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud, the agency should be focused on real security threats like attacks on our nation’s cyber infrastructure, including potential threats to voting machines.” 

 

“As the former Texas Secretary of State, I have a strong working knowledge of the process of registering to vote and voting,” Rep. Henry Cuellar, of Texas, said. “Rather than focusing on nonexistent voter fraud, we should be focusing on the widespread issue of barriers to voting. We are a representative democracy that is strengthened when more people vote, not fewer.”

 

“President Trump’s sham Voter Fraud Commission was designed from the start to justify false claims of voter fraud and advance Republicans’ voter suppression agenda,” Rep. Betty McCollum, of Minnesota, said. “Now that the commission has been terminated, the Trump administration must explain to Congress and the American people exactly how they plan to proceed and whether they will pledge to conduct future election integrity efforts in an accurate, thorough, and fact-based manner.”

 

“Voter suppression is nothing new to Ohioans as evidenced in the Husted v. A Philip Randolph case now before the Supreme Court. Voter suppression in the clever name of ‘election integrity’ must stop,” said Rep. Marcy Kaptur, of Ohio. “I was pleased to see the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity disbanded, but questions remain. The President and his team should stop all efforts to polarize the security of our election systems. I urge transparency and cooperation with Congress.”

 

"My ancestors fought and died for the right to vote. Turning back the clock on voting rights is simply not an option,” Rep. Barbara Lee, of California, said. “Sadly, that is exactly what President Trump and this Administration is trying to do by transferring this commission over to the Department of Homeland Security. Let’s be clear, the president put this commission together because he can’t accept the fact that he lost the popular vote by 2.9 million votes.  This commission is a sham and we will fight it in all its forms to ensure that not one cent of taxpayer dollars is used to pave the way for even greater voter suppression”

 

According to The New York Times, the commission “generated lawsuits, outrage and some scholarly testimony, but no real evidence that American elections are corrupt.”  he President abruptly disbanded the committee in January after states across the nation chose to sue the government rather than turn over information about registered voters.

 

In the letter, the lawmakers asked seven questions to the new Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Kristjen Nielsen. Politico recently reported President Trump is interested in resurrecting the commission by having DHS take over the commission’s duties. 

 

The following members of Congress joined Rep. Kilmer and Pingree in the letter:

 

Rep. Grace Meng, New Yortk

Rep. Marcy Kaptur, Ohio

Rep. David Price, North Carolina

Rep. Sanford Bishop, Jr., Georgia

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Florida

Rep. Henry Cuellar, Texas

Rep. Mike Quigley, Illinois,

Rep. Mark Pocan, Wisconsin

Rep. Katherine Clark, Massachusetts

Rep. Barbara Lee, California

Rep Betty McCollum, Minnesota