Posted on 12/24/2017 3:14:11 PM PST by fluorescence
President Trump’s voter fraud commission must provide Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap with information, working documents and correspondence about its work, a federal judge ruled Friday evening.
Dunlap, one of four Democrats serving on the 11-member commission, asked the court Nov. 16 to issue an injunction to receive past and future records after formal requests for them had been ignored. Dunlap said the records were necessary to allow him “to fully participate on an equal basis as all other commissioners.” The injunction grew out of a lawsuit Dunlap filed Nov. 9 against the commission in regards to the issue.
Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the voter fraud commission – which is chaired by Vice President Mike Pence – to turn the documents over, both now and in the future. Dunlap “has a right, as a commissioner, to ‘fully participate’ in the proceedings of the Commission,” the judge wrote. In “the absence of being provided with past and future documents of the kinds described (in the lawsuit), Plaintiff’s right to fully participate in the commission would be irreparably harmed.”
Dunlap previously said he had not been privy to any discussions related to meeting materials, witness invitations, goals or outreach. He and at least one other Democrat on the commission, New Hampshire Secretary of State William Gardner, both have said they have not received any substantive communications from the body since its last meeting, Sept. 12.
In a written statement issued late Friday night, Dunlap said he knew he was on the right side of the law, but that “unfortunately, through legal arguments and bombastic public statements, the commission’s leadership denigrated straightforward efforts to fulfill my responsibilities as a member of the commission.”
(Excerpt) Read more at pressherald.com ...
If they weren’t just looking for ways to cover their own tracks this would be fine. but I am not convinced they aren’t just trying to run interference and cover up the fact that lots of Maine voters also vote in NH (along with Vermont and Massachusetts voters). NH has been stolen by the Rats more than once in the past few Presidential contests.
If this commission is going to be above board and make credible findings, it needs to have transparent communications. Presume there is simply a failure to communicate, or listen, in the case of the Democrats?
They need to treat him fairly. Never mind that he’s a democrat, he’s a pretty good guy, and he is the Secretary of State.
He is also a socialist and if a Socialist can divorce policy from Karl Marx please tell me how:
“Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders got a lift in Maine on Tuesday with endorsements from Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, party godfather and lobbyist Severin Beliveau and a host of legislators.
The progressive Vermont senator is an underdog in his race against Hillary Clinton — who received early endorsements from most of Maine’s big-name Democrats — but a Tuesday news conference in Augusta highlighted significant support from the Maine party’s grassroots.
Sanders’ campaign rolled out more than 60 new endorsements on Tuesday, also including House Majority Leader Jeff McCabe of Skowhegan, former Portland Mayor Michael Brennan, nearly 40 legislators and seven county Democratic committee chairs.”
Then why didn't they put Phil Harriman, Bill Schneider or Rick Bennett on the panel?
SOUNDS LIKE A LEFTY CREEP TO ME
By Matthew Dunlap November 30 2017
I’m on Trump’s voter fraud commission. I’m suing it to find out what it’s doing.
Why is a presidential advisory panel on elections operating in such secrecy?
President Trump convened a commission to look into voter fraud — after he claimed, without proof, that voter fraud occurred last year.
Matthew Dunlap, a member of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, is Maine’s secretary of state.
On Nov. 9, I filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Washington, seeking to obtain the working documents, correspondence and schedule of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. What’s remarkable about my lawsuit is that I’m a member of the commission, and apparently this is the only way I can find out what we’re doing.
The commission was formed in May to answer monster-under-the-bed questions about “voter fraud,” but the implicit rationale for its creation appears to be to substantiate President Trump’s unfounded claims that up to 5 million people voted illegally in 2016. Chaired by Vice President Pence, the commission has the chance to answer questions about potential fraud and to highlight best practices to enhance voter confidence in our election systems. Yet it isn’t doing that. Instead, the commission is cloaking itself in secrecy, completely contrary to federal law. Recommendations for changes in public policy — whether you agree with them or not — ought to come through an open, public discussion where any American can weigh in.
As the secretary of state in Maine, I was asked to serve on this 12-member commission by Pence’s office. Although I’m a Democrat, I accepted because I believed that membership would allow me to defend the election process from a position of authority, as a fully informed and engaged participant in the president’s review.
The commission has met just twice, but it’s made some waves anyway. Even before we first convened, a June 28 memo, signed by commission Vice Chairman Kris Kobach, prompted fury by requesting detailed voter information from the chief elections officers of all 50 states. The Mississippi secretary of state, Republican Delbert Hosemann, invited the commission to “jump in the Gulf of Mexico,” one of many colorful responses. Perhaps more striking is that the memo wasn’t written by staff — it was written by individuals who were later named to the commission but who were working outside of government at the time. The letter went out immediately after our first conference call, indicating that Kobach’s data-gathering effort was underway before the commission formed. But no one told members of the commission that; I learned about it from the press.
At our first meeting, at the White House complex in July, Trump made clear his motivation for convening the commission: “This issue is very important to me because, throughout the campaign and even after it, people would come up to me and express their concerns about voter inconsistencies and irregularities, which they saw. In some cases, having to do with very large numbers of people in certain states.”
The second meeting, held in New Hampshire in September, was electrified by unsubstantiated charges of rampant voter fraud in that state leveled by Kobach, a longtime proponent of the theory that voter fraud is a pressing danger, who also serves as Kansas secretary of state. Strangely, his charges had less to do with how voters in New Hampshire had conducted themselves than with the structure of the state’s election laws, which Kobach apparently dislikes. But neither the agenda for that meeting nor the list of witnesses invited to speak was vetted by the commission as a whole before the public session — it just appeared. I’ve served on many boards and commissions in my nearly 20 years in politics. I’ve never seen a session where members learned about what would happen in a meeting only when the agenda became public.
Since that meeting, there has been total silence from the leaders and staff of the commission about work happening behind the scenes. After repeated instances of learning about the commission’s activities only because reporters asked me about them, I sent a letter to Executive Director Andrew Kossack on Oct. 17 asking for information — including communications between the commissioners and federal agencies — about what the body I’m supposed to be a part of is doing. My request was simple: “I am seeking information because I lack it; I am asking questions because I do not know the answers. I am a keen observer of the public discourse, and it has been made manifestly clear that there is information about this commission being created and shared among a number of parties, though apparently not universally. Thus, I am in a position where I feel compelled to inquire after the work of the Commission upon which I am sworn to serve, and am yet completely uninformed as to its activities.”
More than a week later, on Oct. 25, I received the following reply: “I am consulting with counsel regarding a response to your request to ensure any response accords with all applicable law.”
That same day, I was forwarded a fundraising email from the conservative Minnesota Voters Alliance touting its invitation to present at our December meeting — the first I had heard that such a meeting was even being contemplated, much less scheduled. When I asked Kossack about our future meetings, he replied that no meeting was scheduled for December. I have yet to hear anything further
Our itinerary isn’t the only thing I can’t get clear information about. More than a month ago, The Washington Post reported on the arrest in Maryland of a researcher for the commission on charges of possession of child pornography. I can’t get answers about the disposition of the case: Is this researcher still employed by the commission? Has he been placed on leave? Has he resigned? I have no idea, as I have not received a response to my query to the commission.
The commission was established by executive order under the auspices of the Federal Advisory Commission Act (FACA), which requires notice of our public meetings, disclosure of our work product and the opportunity for public participation. FACA was written precisely so Americans would know what the government is doing and what it is considering, so we could participate in that process.
One of the agencies that some commissioners have been reportedly working with is the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the implementation of the Real ID Act and has designated state election systems as “critical infrastructure.” DHS may decide to enter the field of elections management, under the ubiquitous mantle of “national security.”
Without transparency about the commission’s actions, how can you find out if a policy is being developed that may require you to have a Real ID-compliant driver’s license to vote? Or whether you’ll have to prove American citizenship at the polls? How will you know about proposed changes to voter registration deadlines or new restrictions on absentee balloting?
Of course, this is politics. But remember, we as American citizens are supposed to own the process. The desire to prevail in an election campaign has led to some sad episodes of voter intimidation and suppression in our country’s history. The Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity should endeavor to challenge those fears and answer them, not add to them.
Fire Dunlap. Problem solved.
The democrats want to keep close tabs on this commission. It is not hard to understand why.
I should clarify that when I say Fire Dunlap. I am talking about his participation in the committee only.
For the commission’s focus on “fraud,” say somebody moved from Lincolnville to Old Town [in Maine], and they voted absentee in Lincolnville to cover their bases before they got their new apartment. And as they’re registering their new truck in Old Town, they get handed all kinds of documents, including a voter-registration card and a ballot application. They fill it all out and get a ballot with different names, and they vote—they don’t necessarily realize they’re voting twice. Is that voter fraud? Not really. ?
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/trump-vote-fraud-commission/534843/
If they appointed him to the commission then he should have access to information the other commissioners have.
But he is only going to leak every last detail to swamp. no doubt that they only put him on the commission to make it look partisan. The swamp is running as much interference as they possibly can.
Regardless of the reason they did put him on the panel so he is entitled to what the rest of them see.
I have never in my life had trouble remembering where I am registered to vote or how many times I have voted in a given election cycle [I assure you that the number is invariably either 0 or 1].
This MSM report fails its fundamental job of providing the names of the elected/appointed criminals responsible for emasculating and frustrating the power of the Official Voter Fraud Commission.
I am assuming I can do a better job...
.Vice President Mike Pence (Chair) (R): Defended the president’s claim that millions voted illegally in the 2016 election.
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (Vice Chair) (R): One of the nation’s leading promoters of strict photo ID laws and documentary proof of citizenship requirements. Running for governor of Kansas in 2018.
Hans von Spakovsky, Senior Legal Fellow, Heritage Foundation (R): Former Justice Department official and a consistent promoter of photo ID laws and documentary proof of citizenship requirements.
J. Christian Adams, President and General Counsel, Public Interest Legal Foundation (R): Has brought numerous lawsuits to compel jurisdictions to aggressively purge voter rolls, and actively promotes allegations of widespread noncitizen voting.
Former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell (R): Served as secretary of state from 1999 to 2007. Oversaw an election that had so many problems, the New York Times called it an “example for every ailment in the United States’ electoral process.”
Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson (R): Previously served in the Indiana State Senate, where she co-sponsored the nation’s first strict photo ID law.
U.S. Election Assistance Commissioner Christy McCormick (R): Secured controversial activist group, Judicial Watch, to represent her in a lawsuit against the EAC over documentary proof of citizenship requirements.
New Hampshire Secretary of State William Gardner (D): Has supported legislation that could suppress votes, and expressed skepticism multiple times about the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.
Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap (D): Has criticized accusations of widespread voter fraud and opposed voter ID legislation.
Former Arkansas State Rep. David K. Dunn (D): Served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 2004 to 2010.
Wood County (WV) Clerk Mark Rhodes (D): Serves over 56,000 voters in his current position and was a deputy clerk in the same office before that.
Jefferson County (AL) Probate Judge Alan Lamar King (D): Chief election official for largest county in Alabama, serving over 450,000 voters. Rejected President Trump’s claims of widespread voter fraud in comments last fall.
Maryland Deputy Secretary of State Luis Borunda (Resigned) (R): Works in an agency whose responsibilities include organization registrations, trademark registrations, and certain executive functions, but it does not oversee elections.
I had to make a few (reasonable) assumptions. Names shown in red are not clearly defined as pro vote integrity, or not clearly defined as pro or anti-voter integrity.
Are these your words or his?
Which is why I basically said to take him off the panel.
If they fill out two ballots for two different locations, it’s fraud.
Learn how to read.
I can read just fine. Learn how to post.
Get civil.
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