Donald Trump Follows Up Baseless Accusations of Voting Impropriety With Sham Commission to Investigate Claims

MADISON, Wis. — According to media reports, Donald Trump, who with no basis in fact claimed voting impropriety resulted in his 3 million plus popular vote loss, will be issuing an order today creating a commission to investigate his allegation.

In addition to the faulty premise underlying the commission, Trump is said to be appointing Kris Kobach, Kansas Secretary of State, as co-chair of the effort. In Kansas, Kobach worked to pass a law that was estimated to have prevented 20,000 state residents from being able to register to vote in 2014. The Kobach backed law has been challenged in court where judges have since enjoined enforcement of his anti-voter registration efforts.

The following are the statements of One Wisconsin Now Program Director Analiese Eicher:

“The real electoral fraud is partisan politicians manipulating the rules on voting to gain an unfair partisan advantage.

“We’ve seen firsthand in Wisconsin how Republicans used bogus claims of impropriety to justify a crusade against voting rights and pass unconstitutional laws preventing legal voters from exercising their rights to be heard at the ballot box.

“This commission is a blatantly transparent ploy on the part of Trump to justify voter suppression laws with the intent of preventing people from holding him accountable for his actions.”

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One Wisconsin Now’s partner organization, One Wisconsin Institute is the lead plaintiff in a federal lawsuit challenging numerous anti-voter laws adopted by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-controlled legislature.

A federal district court struck down several of the challenged measures including restrictions on hours of early voting, finding that one of the limitations was enacted to discriminate against legal voters. In addition, the judge found the state’s administration of its strict voter ID law was unconstitutional.