‘It’s time to make democracy work for everyone’
1/13/2018, 11:44 a.m.
President Trump disbanded his Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, which we all knew to be nothing more than a voter suppression scheme.
The commission demanded a wide range of voter data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia under the guise of hunting down “voter fraud.” But in the hands of Vice President Mike Pence and “voter suppression king” Kris Kobach, the data would have become a weapon for voter suppression — an arsenal of information to keep Americans, especially black and brown Americans, away from the polls.
We immediately recognized the commission as malevolent and simply illegal and sought justice in the courts. From Pennsylvania to Florida, Indiana to Texas, Georgia to Utah, we stopped states from unlawfully disclosing voter information to President Trump’s commission. And our method worked. In his explanation of the commission’s demise, President Trump cited “the endless legal battles,” which left the commission without the data necessary to accomplish its objectives.
This is a major victory, but we’ve got lots of work ahead. According to Mr. Kobach, the administration already is making plans for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to take over the investigation, matching state voter rolls to federal databases of non-citizens.
It’s time to make democracy work for everyone.
DERRICK JOHNSON
The writer is president and chief executive officer of the national NAACP.
