A commission President Donald Trump created in May to investigate alleged voter fraud has asked officials in every state for voter data, but Secretary of the State Denise Merrill said she will provide only public information.
“In the spirit of transparency we intend to share publicly-available information with the Kobach Commission while ensuring that the privacy of voters is honored by withholding protected data,” Merrill said in a statement Thursday.
Kris Kobach, Kansas’ secretary of the state, is vice chair of the commission. Merrill, who has pushed back against claims Trump has made about voter fraud, is not a fan.
Merrill said Kobach “has a lengthy record of illegally disenfranchising eligible voters in Kansas.”
“The courts have repudiated his methods on multiple occasions but often after the damage has been done to voters,” she said. “Given Secretary Kobach’s history we find it very difficult to have confidence in the work of this Commission.”
Merrill asked the commission to share information about what sort of alleged fraud it is investigating.
