Ed. note: On Nov. 27, 2016 President-Elect Trump tweeted, "In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally."

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May 11, 2017

EXECUTIVE ORDER

 
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ESTABLISHMENT OF PRESIDENTIAL ADVISORY COMMISSION ON ELECTION INTEGRITY

      By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to promote fair and honest Federal elections, it is hereby ordered as follows:
 
      Section 1.  Establishment.  The Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity (Commission) is hereby established.
 
      Sec. 2.  Membership.  The Vice President shall chair the Commission, which shall be composed of not more than 15 additional members.  The President shall appoint the additional members, who shall include individuals with knowledge and experience in elections, election management, election fraud detection, and voter integrity efforts, and any other individuals with knowledge or experience that the President determines to be of value to the Commission.  The Vice President may select a Vice Chair of the Commission from among the members appointed by the President.
 
      Sec. 3.  Mission.  The Commission shall, consistent with applicable law, study the registration and voting processes used in Federal elections.  The Commission shall be solely advisory and shall submit a report to the President that identifies the following:
 
      (a)  those laws, rules, policies, activities, strategies, and practices that enhance the American people's confidence in the integrity of the voting processes used in Federal elections;
 
      (b)  those laws, rules, policies, activities, strategies, and practices that undermine the American people's confidence in the integrity of the voting processes used in Federal elections; and
 
      (c)  those vulnerabilities in voting systems and practices used for Federal elections that could lead to improper voter registrations and improper voting, including fraudulent voter registrations and fraudulent voting.
 
      Sec. 4.  Definitions.  For purposes of this order:
 
      (a)  The term "improper voter registration" means any situation where an individual who does not possess the legal right to vote in a jurisdiction is included as an eligible voter on that jurisdiction's voter list, regardless of the state of mind or intent of such individual. 
      (b)  The term "improper voting" means the act of an individual casting a non-provisional ballot in a jurisdiction in which that individual is ineligible to vote, or the act of an individual casting a ballot in multiple jurisdictions, regardless of the state of mind or intent of that individual.
 
      (c)  The term "fraudulent voter registration" means any situation where an individual knowingly and intentionally takes steps to add ineligible individuals to voter lists.
 
      (d)  The term "fraudulent voting" means the act of casting a non-provisional ballot or multiple ballots with knowledge that casting the ballot or ballots is illegal.
 
      Sec. 5.  Administration.  The Commission shall hold public meetings and engage with Federal, State, and local officials, and election law experts, as necessary, to carry out its mission.  The Commission shall be informed by, and shall strive to avoid duplicating, the efforts of existing government entities.  The Commission shall have staff to provide support for its functions.
 
      Sec. 6.  Termination.  The Commission shall terminate 30 days after it submits its report to the President.
 
      Sec. 7.  General Provisions.  (a)  To the extent permitted by law, and subject to the availability of appropriations, the General Services Administration shall provide the Commission with such administrative services, funds, facilities, staff, equipment, and other support services as may be necessary to carry out its mission on a reimbursable basis.
 
      (b)  Relevant executive departments and agencies shall endeavor to cooperate with the Commission.
 
      (c)  Insofar as the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App.) (the "Act"), may apply to the Commission, any functions of the President under that Act, except for those in section 6 of the Act, shall be performed by the Administrator of General Services.
 
      (d)  Members of the Commission shall serve without any additional compensation for their work on the Commission, but shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, to the extent permitted by law for persons serving intermittently in the Government service (5 U.S.C. 5701-5707).
 
      (e)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
 
(i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
 
(ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
 
      (f)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
      (g)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
 
 
 
                                  DONALD J. TRUMP
 
 
 
THE WHITE HOUSE,
    May 11, 2017.
 
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REACTIONS
The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law

Brennan Center: Trump Administration’s ‘Voter Integrity’ Commission a Sham

According to news reports, President Trump is expected to sign an executive order today that will create a “Presidential Commission on Election Integrity.” Vice President Mike Pence and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach are reported to be Chair and Vice Chair. The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law released the following statements in response:

“This commission is a sham and distraction,” said Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center. “It’s simply an effort to try and find proof of the president’s absurd claim that 3-5 million people voted illegally in November. It tries to pivot from the fact that this week Trump fired the chief law enforcement officer in charge of probing whether his advisors colluded with Russia to influence our elections. He fired the person investigating a real threat to election integrity, and set up a probe of an imaginary threat.”

“This commission is not a credible effort to improve our elections or their integrity,” said Wendy Weiser, director of the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program. “The timing of its announcement is suspicious. It is not independent of the White House that has been making false claims of widespread fraud. With a Republican chair and vice chair, it is not bipartisan. And several officials reportedly being considered for it are some of the most controversial and well-known advocates of voting restrictions in the country.”

“The predicate of this commission, the claims that millions voted improperly in the 2016 election, is simply false,” said Myrna Pérez, deputy director of the Democracy Program. “All studies, including our own, have shown that voter fraud is vanishingly rare. And, the myth of voter fraud has been the justification for restrictive voting laws for years, serving to roll back access to our democracy for people all across the country.”

The commission’s vice chair will purportedly be Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who has little credibility as an impartial investigator of election integrity. He’s a known promoter of efforts to restrict voting and one of the nation’s primary peddlers of the myth of voter fraud.

Brennan Center released a report last week analyzing information from local election administrators in jurisdictions with the highest populations of noncitizens, and its findings counter Trump’s claims. Of the 23.5 million votes tabulated in the areas surveyed, election officials referred an estimated 30 incidents of suspected noncitizen voting for further prosecution or investigation, representing 0.0001 percent of the votes cast.

Members of Trump’s own party have refuted his claims about fraud. And every academic and journalistic investigation confirms fraud by voters at the polls is exceedingly rare.  Click here to visit the Brennan Center’s resource page on the myth of voter fraud. And click here to visit the Brennan Center’s resources on recent voting restrictions across the country.

Democratic National Committee

Perez on Trump’s Elections Executive Order

DNC Chair Tom Perez released the following statement after Donald Trump announced his plans to create a ‘Presidential Commission on Election Integrity’:
 
“Donald Trump shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the word ‘integrity.’ This commission is nothing but a Trump-sponsored propaganda factory for justifying the GOP’s broader voter suppression efforts and nursing the president’s wounded ego after he lost the popular vote.
 
“Study after study has proven that in-person voter fraud is effectively non-existent—more people get struck by lightning each year. But Republicans like Kris Kobach, whom Trump hand-picked to run this charade, have spent years lying about voter fraud in order to keep African American and Latino voters from the polls. They have rammed through legislation to make it harder, not easier, for Americans to exercise their constitutional right to vote in states like Texas, North Carolina and Wisconsin.
 
“Today’s executive order is another obvious solution in search of a problem, and it’s a disgraceful attack on communities of color, working families, students, first-generation Americans, and the elderly. Democrats believe that voting is a fundamental right in America, and that our democracy is stronger when more people participate in our elections, not fewer. That’s why we’re creating a voter protection and empowerment unit at the DNC to stand up and resist the assault on the right to vote from Republicans and Trump. We can’t trust Trump, Jeff Sessions, or anyone in this administration to protect access to the ballot box.”
 
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