Los Angeles, CA, July 11, 2017

 

We are two weeks into the latest Trump folly: a naked power grab-attempt to suppress voting called the “Voter Integrity Commission” led by the infamous voter suppressing Kansas Secretary of State and the fortunate response is an overwhelming “NO” from 45 Secretaries of State and the District of Colombia to cooperation with the “Commission” on legal and ethical grounds.

 

Of course, my favorite has been CA SOS Alex Padilla who stood up tall and immediately with a (I’m paraphrasing) “hell no we won’t cooperate because you defamed California’s elections accusing immigrants of stealing your majority.” Indeed, Alex’s defiant tone has created chatter about him as a possible successor to US Senator Feinstein who I’m betting won’t post for re-election (at the last minute of course) in 2018.

 

But let’s game this out. The next move should be a clarion call to dissolve the commission. The commission is an outrage whose purposes are universally dictatorial: violate voters’ privacy; create a chilling atmosphere of intimidation -we are already seeing this as a wave of voter withdrawals has hit Colorado; and stimulate support for voter suppression laws in states and the courts.

 

C’mon! Suppressing electoral democracy…this is another element of, yes, I’m going to say it, fascism in Trump’s project. He already has other fascistic components well established: economic nationalism; discrediting intimidating media critics; and minority exclusion (i.e. what he is doing to undocumented immigrants 80% of who are Latino or Asian); and militarism.

 

But I’m not pessimistic (though six months ago I was), American’s democratic impulses are still robust -this rejection of Trumps commission is an example. America’s resistance especially on Obamacare has been inspiring.

 

So, let’s slam dunk Trump’s commission as the latest iteration of our resistance. Let’s go from defense to offense and compel the Administration to “shelve it.” 45 States acting together with voter subgroups like Latinos and Blacks -the obvious targets of the “Commission” have more than enough gravitas to force a Trump retreat.

 

Let’s do it!

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President Trump’s voter fraud commission may have violated the law by ignoring federal requirements governing requests for information from states, several experts on the regulatory process told The Hill.

Experts say the failure to submit the request to states through the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) violates a 1980 law known as the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). They also say the failure could be significant, since states could argue it means they are under no obligation to respond..........Read More