Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts. Founded by Mark Kleiman (1951-2019)
President Trump establishes new “Election integrity” commission
President Trump signed an executive order establishing a commission on “Election integrity” under the leadership of Vice President Pence and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, two figures active in voter suppression efforts .
Author: Harold Pollack
Harold Pollack is Helen Ross Professor of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. He has served on three expert committees of the National Academies of Science. His recent research appears in such journals as Addiction, Journal of the American Medical Association, and American Journal of Public Health. He writes regularly on HIV prevention, crime and drug policy, health reform, and disability policy for American Prospect, tnr.com, and other news outlets. His essay, "Lessons from an Emergency Room Nightmare" was selected for the collection The Best American Medical Writing, 2009. He recently participated, with zero critical acclaim, in the University of Chicago's annual Latke-Hamentaschen debate.
View all posts by Harold Pollack
7 thoughts on “President Trump establishes new “Election integrity” commission”
At least we can be certain that their investigation will be fair and impartial.
Right?
R—i—g—h—t.
The Commission shall identify "those laws, rules, policies, strategies, and practices that (a) enhance (b) undermine the American's peoples confidence in the integrity of the voting processes used in Federal elections." Maybe the Maine Democrat on the commission can be convinced to include the practice of over-the-top restrictions on voting? After all, it's no skin off his nose if he resigns when, as likely, the chair and vice-chair prohibit such testimony.
What's with the video?
The people running the commission are the threat to election integrity. Metaphor! Metaphor!
I expect they're going to spend a lot of time on "improper registration" — which apparently needs to be suppressed even if it is entirely non-malicious and has no effect on the voting rolls. And I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that they're going to recommend the same punitive measures against voter-registration organizations that got dinged by the courts this time around.
And also, of course, nothing at all about improper denial of registration or voting rights.
Nationwide vote caging?
Maintaining the electoral register is, in most democracies, a duty of the local government. Citizens only need to take action to correct errors. This should also be the rule in the USA. Of course, you would need stringent safeguards to keep the process straight.
At least we can be certain that their investigation will be fair and impartial.
Right?
R—i—g—h—t.
The Commission shall identify "those laws, rules, policies, strategies, and practices that (a) enhance (b) undermine the American's peoples confidence in the integrity of the voting processes used in Federal elections." Maybe the Maine Democrat on the commission can be convinced to include the practice of over-the-top restrictions on voting? After all, it's no skin off his nose if he resigns when, as likely, the chair and vice-chair prohibit such testimony.
What's with the video?
The people running the commission are the threat to election integrity. Metaphor! Metaphor!
I expect they're going to spend a lot of time on "improper registration" — which apparently needs to be suppressed even if it is entirely non-malicious and has no effect on the voting rolls. And I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that they're going to recommend the same punitive measures against voter-registration organizations that got dinged by the courts this time around.
And also, of course, nothing at all about improper denial of registration or voting rights.
Nationwide vote caging?
Maintaining the electoral register is, in most democracies, a duty of the local government. Citizens only need to take action to correct errors. This should also be the rule in the USA. Of course, you would need stringent safeguards to keep the process straight.