Here's an info grab that is scary.

MGMcAnick · Post by **MGMcAnick** » Fri Jun 30, 2017 4:23 pm

I usually stay away from the political side of this forum, but this idea really irks me.

http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-gov ... 71959.html

I registered as a republican about 31 years ago because a close friend and neighbor wanted to run for a very local office. The entire constituency consisted of maybe 1000 people. He didn't want to pay the $50 filing fee for the primary election. He figured that if he could get a few friends to write him in, he could get on the general election ballot for free. Soooo, I registered as a republican. It worked. I think it took 15 write ins, as no one else asked for anyone's vote. Willie was elected as a Township trustee. He kept the position for many years, until a stroke took is ability to get around well.

This morning, I went to the county election commissioner's office and re-registered as an independent. I do not need to be associated with Kris Kobach or any of his (many) oddball political ideas, or his friend Donald Drumpf.

Here is what you find if you google Kris Kobach. There is a lot of scary stuff there.

https://www.google.com/search?q=kris+ko ... e&ie=UTF-8

I'm curious if this story made the news in any of your areas. Since Kobach is a semi-local a$$, it sure made the news here.

Burning Petard · Post by **Burning Petard** » Fri Jun 30, 2017 4:41 pm

Paul Krugman has been writing about this guy for a while. He includes him as part of the Zombie Republicans. They advocate for policies that have been proven in practice to not work, but the zombies keep coming back.

snailgate

BoSoxGal · Post by **BoSoxGal** » Fri Jun 30, 2017 7:47 pm

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2 ... liar-game/

My old friend SoS of Maine is on the Commission as well; I know he'll fight hard against any foolishness. Happy to report my state has politely refused to turn over the voter rolls and voting data requested.

Econoline · Post by **Econoline** » Fri Jun 30, 2017 8:07 pm

I think this is the story referred to in the OP. (Clicky linky for story.)

Kris Kobach wants every U.S. voter’s personal information for Trump’s commission

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has asked every state in the nation to provide President Donald Trump’s new voter commission with the names, birthdates and Social Security information for registered voters going back to 2006.

Yikes!

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Fri Jun 30, 2017 10:43 pm

This ain't goin' over real well:

State election officials push back on data request from Trump voter fraud panel

WASHINGTON — State election officials around the country pushed back Friday against a request by President Trump's voter fraud commission for states to hand over detailed information about their voters, including birth dates, parts of Social Security numbers and voting histories.

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, a Republican, said the state would require the commission to file a formal request and will not release personal information about voters.

The office of Louisiana Secretary of State Tom Schedler, a Republican, said lawyers are reviewing the letter to determine how the state will respond.

“Our priority, as we’ve demonstrated in the past, will always be to protect voter’s protected, personal information,” said Meg Casper Sunstrom, a spokeswoman for Schedler, former head of the National Association of Secretaries of State. “This includes Social Security numbers, mother’s maiden name and date of birth … Voter lists are publicly available, but only include limited information including voter history. Voter history is not how a voter cast their ballot, it’s whether they participated.”

Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, also a Republican, said he hasn't received the letter yet, but he's not giving up voter information.

"My reply would be: They can go jump in the Gulf of Mexico and Mississippi is a great state to launch from," he said. "Mississippi residents should celebrate Independence Day and our state’s right to protect the privacy of our citizens by conducting our own electoral processes.”

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted said Friday that his state will not provide the commission with the last four digits of Ohioans' Social Security numbers or their state driver's license IDs.

Husted, a Republican who is running for governor, said fraud is rare, and "We do not want any federal intervention in our state's right and responsibility to conduct elections."

Michael Haas, administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, said that under state law, "most of the information in Wisconsin’s voter registration system is public and is available for purchase, and is commonly purchased by political parties, candidates, researchers and other organizations." Haas pointed out that the fee is $12,500 for the statewide file, and "Wisconsin law does not contain any provision for waiving the fee for voter data.”

Connecticut Secretary of Denise Merrill, a Democrat, said Thursday that “in the spirit of transparency” the state will only provide publicly available information about voters, but not any information that is protected.

“In the same spirit of transparency, we will request that the commission share any memos, meeting minutes or additional information as state officials have not been told precisely what the commission is looking for,” she said in a statement.

White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called the move by state officials to block the data release a “political stunt.”[ yeah right...they're the ones engaging in a "political stunt"...]

“This is a commission that’s looking for publicly available data,” she said. She said no one on the bipartisan commission had raised any objections to requesting the data.

Trump set up the commission in May to study his allegations of widespread voter fraud in last year's presidential election. The 15-member bipartisan Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity is set to hold its first meeting July 19.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the commission’s vice chairman, sent a letter to election officials in 50 states and the District of Columbia on Wednesday requesting data, including voter information. Kobach has a long history of promoting allegations of voter fraud and pushing for tighter restrictions on voting.

Kobach asked state officials for publicly available voter roll data, including names, addresses, dates of birth, political party, the last four digits of voters’ Social Security numbers, voter history and other information.

He also asked officials for their recommendations to improve the integrity of federal elections and prevent voter intimidation and disenfranchisement.

Kobach also requested information officials had on voter fraud or registration fraud in their states and convictions of election-related crimes since the 2000 federal election. He asked for the information by July 14.

Kobach told The Kansas City Star on Friday that he won't even provide the commission with the Social Security numbers of voters in his state, but he will share other information.

“In Kansas, the Social Security number is not publicly available. … Every state receives the same letter but we’re not asking for it if it’s not publicly available,” Kobach told The Star.

Vice President Pence, the chairman of the commission, hosted a call Wednesday with members.

"The integrity of the vote is a foundation of our democracy,’’ said Pence, according to a White House statement. “This bipartisan commission will review ways to strengthen that integrity in order to protect and preserve the principle of one person, one vote.”

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/201 ... 443388001/

Lawson withholds info from Trump's voter fraud commission, even though she's a member

A member of President Donald Trump's commission on voter fraud from Vice President Mike Pence's home state is withholding most of the voter information the commission requested this week.

Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson won't provide information about voters' Security numbers, birthdates, political affiliation or voting history.

She said in a statement Friday that state law only allows her to share voter names, congressional districts and addresses.

“Indiana law doesn’t permit the Secretary of State to provide the personal information requested by Secretary Kobach," Lawson, a Republican, said Friday in a statement.

http://www.indystar.com/story/news/poli ... 442886001/

If all this commission wanted was whatever voter information was publicly available in each state, they could have quietly had their staff do the work of filing for requests and paying the fees required to acquire these lists with whatever information the states provide under their laws...

Holding a press conference to announce that you've sent letters to 50 Secretaries of State to obtain a laundry list of information on all their voters looks like, oh I don't know, a "political stunt"?

Like most people who fall into Trump's orbit, this Kobach character has now made himself look like a complete idiot...

He can't even provide the information he's asking others for....

MGMcAnick · Post by **MGMcAnick** » Sat Jul 01, 2017 12:12 am

Lord Jim wrote:He can't even provide the information he's asking others for....

I'm not so sure he hasn't already provided Kansan's information. That's another reason I cancelled my party affiliation. If they have the information already, they have it wrong. They'll probably accuse me of duplicate registration.

Bicycle Bill · Post by **Bicycle Bill** » Sat Jul 01, 2017 5:01 am

BoSoxGal wrote:http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2 ... liar-game/

My old friend SoS of Maine is on the Commission as well; I know he'll fight hard against any foolishness. Happy to report my state has politely refused to turn over the voter rolls and voting data requested.

I don't know how my state (Wisconsin) feels about this, but given Snottie Wanker's reputation since he took over as Governor our lists have probably already been FedExed to Trump's Loyalty Squad Gestapo 'Advisory Commission on Election Integrity' (hope at least one member of the commission has a dictionary so they can look up the definition of 'integrity'). If my presence here suddenly and abruptly breaks off it's because Trump's version of the bagmen (from "V for Vendetta") have come for me.

-"BB"-

Scooter · Post by **Scooter** » Sat Jul 01, 2017 2:45 pm

BREAKING: 27 States Say ‘NO’ To Trump’s Insane Request

A majority of states are now opposing President Donald Trump’s administration for asking for detailed voter information, including names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and birthdates. The White House is requesting the information from all 50 states, saying it is vital in order to combat against illegal voting.

The letter sent out states it’s to “study the registration and voting processes used in federal elections” that may “undermine the American people’s confidence in the integrity of federal elections processes.” But, others believe that Trump will just use the information for its own purposes – one of those being Trump getting re-elected.

In any case, some secretary of states, even Republican ones, are balking at the request.

“They can go jump in the Gulf of Mexico and Mississippi is a great state to launch from,” Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said on Friday. “Mississippi residents should celebrate Independence Day and our state’s right to protect the privacy of our citizens by conducting our own electoral processes.”

Kentucky’s Secretary of State Alison Lundergan said there wasn’t enough bourbon in her state to make her release the information.

“There’s not enough bourbon here in Kentucky to make this request seem sensible,” Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) said on MSNBC. “Not on my watch are we going to be releasing sensitive information that relate to the privacy of individuals.”

RayThom · Post by **RayThom** » Sat Jul 01, 2017 6:38 pm

Will the "so-called" judges on the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals eventually have to rule on this?

Econoline · Post by **Econoline** » Mon Jul 03, 2017 7:13 am

Jim Wright at Stonekettle Station does a bunch of research and connects the dots.

Bottom line: "In Kobach’s own words, it’s nothing but a goddamned fishing expedition."

ETA: (from the comments at Stonekettle Station) "Imagine, just for shits n giggles, that Trump had asked all 50 states for their publicly available lists of gun owners..."

ex-khobar Andy · Post by **ex-khobar Andy** » Thu Jul 27, 2017 2:59 am

I'd kind of lost track of this story. It seems that Kobach's integrity may be a little suspect according to Judge Julie Robinson of the U.S. District Court of Kansas. Robinson is a GWB appointee.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/ar ... ms/534975/

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