Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters
Donald Trump.
The White House is giving people the chance to comment on President Donald Trump's voter fraud commission - and it's going about as well as you'd expect.This week, the White House posted more than 120 pages of comments it received between June 29 and July 11.
A post on the White House website reads that "any member of the public wishing to submit written comments for the commission's consideration" can email ElectionIntegrityStaff@ovp.eop.gov.
It additionally notes that the commission, which is chaired by Vice President Mike Pence and vice chaired by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, "may post such written comments publicly on our website, including names and contact information that are submitted."
Many commenters did not express a favorable view of the commission.
"You are all about voter suppression to rig elections," one commenter wrote in late June. "Pray there is no hell."
"This commission is a sham and Kris Kobach has been put on it expressly to disenfranchise minority voters," another wrote. "I am ashamed that my taxpayer dollars are being used for such purposes."
"Hey White Supremacist hotshot! one commenter wrote Tuesday. "Find any dead people on the voter rolls of the two states complying with your request? Find any live people who would pee on you if you were on fire? Congratulations on eliminating 15% of Kansas voters. Only a jacka-- like Trump would consider that an accomplishment."
The person later added that she "removed" her name from the voter rolls "and I'm a Republican!"
Others took the opportunity to send trolly messages.
"Hi, I voted in all 50 states," wrote an Oklahoma commenter. "Just wanted you to know."
Not all of the comments were along those lines.
One respondent said she was "glad" the White House "asked for the opinion of the American public." She then provided her "two cents" on voting, writing that districts need to be drawn by non-partisan committees to end gerrymandering, the 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court ruling needs to be reversed, the Electoral College needs to be eliminated, Election Day needs to be a holiday, voter ID card fees need to end.
The panel, titled the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, is set to have its first meeting on Wednesday in Washington, DC. Seemingly the result of Trump's claim that millions voted illegally in last year's presidential election, the commission is off to a bit of a rocky start. Some fear that the true purpose of the commission is to suppress liberal-leaning, minority votes.
After Kobach sent a June 28 letter requesting sensitive voter information from all 50 states, a majority rebuffed the request.
Kobach asked for registered voters' names, addresses, dates of birth, partial social security numbers, political party affiliation, and a decade's worth of voter history, information on felony convictions, and whether they have registered in more than one state. The commission said this data would be released publicly, although the request specified to turn over only publicly available information.
That was then followed by a letter from the Department of Justice, which asked states to reveal how they maintain their voter rolls.
Kobach later pushed back on reports that dozens of states were refusing to comply, calling it "fake news" in a White House statement.
"While there are news reports that 44 states have 'refused' to provide voter information to the Commission, these reports are patently false, more 'fake news,'" the statement read. "Despite media distortions and obstruction by a handful of state politicians, this bipartisan commission on election integrity will continue its work to gather the facts through public records requests to ensure the integrity of each American's vote because the public has a right to know."
Read all the comments below. Vulgar language is included:
White House voter fraud commission comments by Brett LoGiurato on Scribd