Trump’s voter fraud commission tells states to hold off on sending data

President Trump’s commission on identifying voter fraud has reportedly halted its request for sensitive voter information after multiple legal challenges complicated the mandate.

On Monday, an official from the commission asked states not to give up the information, which includes party registration and partial Social Security numbers, until a judge makes a decision on a lawsuit that claims the data request violates privacy laws, ABC News reported Tuesday. 

The commission, led by Vice President Pence and formed after Trump claimed without evidence that widespread fraud cost him the popular vote in November, originally asked election officials in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to hand over by July 14 sensitive information about their voters, including their voting history.

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Dozens of states immediately refused to comply completely with the commission, with some citing laws that bar them from handing over private voter information or an unwillingness to legitimize Trump’s baseless claims of voter fraud. Some states even accused the commission of being a tool to suppress votes.

Several organizations filed lawsuits against the commission, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

The groups allege that members of the commission should have assessed whether the voter information request would have brought up a privacy concern, and they pointed out that the commission should use a secure way to send the data, which was originally requested over an unsecured server.