Washington, D.C. – On Thursday, the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity requested personal voter data from all fifty states, including voter names, birthdays, the last four digits of Social Security numbers, and voting history dating back to 2006. The Commission is led by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who has a history of voter suppression and who has received wide condemnation from civil liberties and civil rights groups.

Congresswoman Terri A. Sewell (D-AL) releases the following statement:

“President Trump’s election commission is a sham, led by a Secretary of State whose only qualification is that he disenfranchised more voters over the past decade than any other state lawmaker,” said Rep. Sewell. “The commission’s request for personal voter data should be alarming for any American who values their privacy, security, or the integrity of our elections. Handing over information on our voters to an Administration that has no respect for the facts will only lay a foundation for national voter suppression efforts.”

Rep. Terri Sewell is the Vice Chair of the Commission on Protecting American Democracy from the Trump Administration. The group will investigate voter suppression, the “voter fraud” myth, and strategies for modernizing the voting process to provide more Americans better access to the polls. Other members include the Commission’s Chair, Jason Kander, and California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, who has refused to turn over state voter data to Trump’s Election Commission.

President Trump, after losing the popular vote in the 2016 presidential election, has repeatedly claimed that “millions” of illegal votes were cast. As head of Trump’s Election Commission, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is one of the only advocates for Trump’s baseless voter fraud claims.

Kobach has a well-documented history of creating barriers to voting in his home state of Kansas, where he drafted requirements for documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote, which have been tied up in court and administrative battles for years. Kobach was also an early backer of strict photo ID voting requirements in Kansas, which studies show have depressed voter turnout, particularly among African Americans and newly registered voters.

###

Rep. Terri A. Sewell (D-AL) is serving her fourth term representing Alabama’s 7th Congressional district. She sits on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and was recently appointed to the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. Sewell is a Chief Deputy Whip and serves on the prestigious Steering and Policy Committee of the Democratic Caucus. She is also a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, and serves as Vice Chair of the Congressional Voting Rights Caucus, and Vice Chair of Outreach for the New Democrat Coalition.