Legal battle blocks federal collection of voter info

No Missouri voters' information has been sent to the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity.

The federal commission's June 28 request to every state for "publicly available" voter information was placed on hold last week after two lawsuits questioned the commission's work.

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft has said he's prepared to give the commission information available under Missouri's "Sunshine" law.

"The commission's questions are fair and we will be glad to assist in offering our thoughts on these important matters," Ashcroft said June 30, after receiving the commission's request for information. "I look forward to working with Secretary Kris Kobach and the commission on its findings and offer our support in the collective effort to enhance the American people's confidence in the integrity of the elections process."

Ashcroft's office also has said the information that would be given to the commission is the same as anyone else - including both political parties - can receive under the open records law.

The office said the information provided in Missouri's publicly available voter file includes the voter's full name; address - unless the voter is registered in the state's "Safe at Home" address substitution program, or the residential address is closed by a court order; date of birth; voter identification number; and various election jurisdictions.

The information also includes the voter's history for the last 20 elections - which elections a voter participated in, but not how they participated, such as absentee or in person.

But the information only covers the voter's most recent address.

Although the federal commission asked for partial Social Security numbers and a voter's party affiliation, if available, Ashcroft has said that information is not available in Missouri.

Ashcroft's office provided a reporter with details of his registration information, showing the correct birth date, that he first registered to vote in Cole County in August 1974 - and that he had voted in 20 different elections since August 2010.

President Donald Trump created the commission to investigate allegations of voter fraud in the 2016 general elections.

But in its lawsuit, the ACLU challenged that purpose, telling the federal court: "The Commission was established for the purpose of providing a veneer of legitimacy to President Trump's false claim that he won the popular vote in the 2016 election - once millions of supposedly illegal votes are subtracted from the count."

Both suits - by the ACLU and by the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the other by the ACLU - accuse the commission of operating outside the rules for federal commissions.

In addition to its politics claim, the ACLU argued the "commission has already held its first meeting without public notice; without making that meeting open to the public; and without timely notice in the Federal Register.

"It has also failed to make any of its 'records, reports, transcripts, minutes, appendixes, working papers, drafts, studies, agenda, or other documents available for public inspection."

in a news release explaining its lawsuitm the EPIC group said, "The commission's demand for detailed voter histories also violates millions of Americans' constitutional right to privacy.

"The Commission had already committed egregious security blunders, including (1) directing state election officials to send voter records to an unsecure web site and (2) proposing to publish partial (Social Security numbers) that would enable identity theft and financial fraud."