WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Tuesday, the Trump Administration’s Election Integrity Commission held a series of public presentations in New Hampshire, receiving testimony from political allies and long-time advocates for discriminatory voter restrictions. Leading the meeting was Commission Co-Chair Kris Kobach, who has a history of voter suppression and who has received wide condemnation from civil liberties and civil rights groups.

“Today’s meeting makes it clear that the real purpose of President Trump’s sham voter commission is to the lay the foundation for voter suppression efforts,” said Rep. Sewell. “Rather than hearing from experts in the field of election integrity, the commission gathered a panel of Trump loyalists who support severe voter restrictions. This isn’t an investigation, it’s a kangaroo court that has put our access to the ballot box on trial. I strongly believe that to improve the integrity of our elections, we should be making it easier for people to vote, not harder. In Congress, I will not stop fighting to give every eligible voter a voice in our democracy.”

Rep. Terri Sewell is the Vice Chair of the Commission on Protecting American Democracy from the Trump Administration. The group investigates 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 falsely claimed that “millions” of illegal votes were cast. The head of Trump’s Election Commission, Kansas Secretary of State Kris 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.

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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.