White House’s election fraud commission suspends request for Alaska voter information

I voted sticker
Secrecy folders for ballots and “I Voted” stickers at a polling place in the State Office Building for early and absentee voting, Aug. 15, 2016. (Photo by Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO)

Alaska will not be providing voter information to the White House for the time being.

The Trump administration’s Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity has suspended its request for voter information from the Alaska Division of Elections.

The commission’s nationwide voter fraud investigation has been put on hold because of a pending lawsuit by the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

The lawsuit alleges that the commission failed to ensure that submitted data would be secure.

It also said the request for voter information is a violation of citizens’ Constitutional right to privacy.

The election integrity commission’s vice chair Kris Kobach sent a letter June 28 to Alaska Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott, requesting all publicly available voter information.

Under state law, some information — such as a voter’s driver’s license number, Social Security information and date of birth — is confidential.

The state had been preparing a response that only contained information available under the Alaska Public Records Act.

According to the governor’s deputy spokesperson Jonathon Taylor, the commission has functionally withdrawn their original request for data, and the state will not be providing any.

NBC News reports that 19 states had refused the original request for data.

Twenty-six other states, including Alaska, agreed to only provide data that was already publicly available.

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