Minnesota's Secretary of State won't turn over voter data to the so-called "Advisory Commission."

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

http://www.sos.state.mn.us/about-the-office/news-room/secretary-simon-statement-on-request-from-presidential-advisory-commission-on-election-integrity/

Secretary Simon Statement on Request from Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity

“Yesterday, my office received from the President’s commission a request that I voluntarily produce significant amounts of information on nearly four million Minnesotans who are registered to vote. The commission openly disclosed that all of this requested personal data, including social security numbers and voting history, would be made available to the public.

I will not hand over Minnesota voters’ sensitive personal information to the commission.

As I’ve said before, I have serious doubts about the commission’s credibility and trustworthiness. Its two co-chairs have publicly backed President Trump’s false and irresponsible claim that millions of ineligible votes were cast in the last election. They, along with other recent appointees, appear to have a strong interest in steering the commission toward their pre-determined conclusions and outcomes. I fear that the commission risks becoming a partisan tool to shut out millions of eligible American voters.

The commission seems to be distracting attention from the most serious challenge to the integrity of our election system: The threat of cyber-attacks by outside forces, including foreign governments, who seek to disrupt and undermine our elections. Cyber-security is where we need to concentrate our attention and energy.
Fortunately, Minnesota has rigorous safety measures in place before, on, and after Election Day to ensure our elections are fair and secure. We know that Minnesotans have confidence in the integrity of our system because our voters just returned us to number one in voter turnout in America.”"

Yay!

[american_ideals]

1. Vote suppression committee

Led by "most dangerous vote suppressor of the 21st century"* Kobach.

*citation: Josh Marshall

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Exactly.

I hope more states tell them to take their commission and shove it.

[question everything]

3. But former Republican sos - Mary Kiffmeyer objects

She said: Simon should “stop obstructing the president in his quest to strengthen voter integrity. Speaker Daudt agrees.

http://www.startribune.com/minnesota-secretary-of-state-won-t-supply-voter-information-to-trump-s-panel/431888833/

I am sure that had this came from a Democratic White House - both would would shout: Resist.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. Of course she does. I remember a few elections ago - maybe it was '04 -

when she tried unsuccessfully to prevent the use by Native Americans of their tribal IDs for voter identification. That would because the Twin Cities area has one of the largest urban Native American populations in the United States. Of course, they tend to vote Democratic. She's horrid:

"State Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer is ALEC’s state chairman for Minnesota. She authored the photo ID bill that passed the MN House and Senate last year, but was vetoed by Gov. Mark Dayton as well as the referendum to be placed on the ballot in November. 15 GOP sponsors of Minnesota’s photo ID amendment are ALEC members, according to a report by Take Action Minnesota: "The 1% versus Democracy."

As Minnesota’s former Secretary of State, Kiffmeyer is known for attempting to pass rules that would prevent certain people from voting. During her tenure, she issued a number of rules that would have disenfranchised voters had courts not ruled against them. In 2004, Kiffmeyer ruled that voters were required to have a valid ID that “exactly matched” the information on her registered voter rolls. Two years later, she ruled on Election Day that college students could not use utility bills to prove their residence when voting. She also tried to ban tribal identification cards used by Native Americans unless the voter could prove they were residents on their tribe’s reservation. Courts overturned all of Rep. Kiffmeyer’s rulings."

http://thinkagainmn.org/who-is-behind-it/128-alecs-connection-in-mn

[dflprincess]

5. She also really wanted to do away with same day registration

because that makes it ever so much harder to purge people from the lists.