Will Florida Hand Over Voter Records?

Voting Hand With American Flag

TAMPA, Fla. (970 WFLA) - Democratic leaders in Florida's legislature, including Tampa Representative Janet Cruz, have written a letter to Secretary of State Ken Detzner urging him not to comply with a request from the Trump administration to hand over voting records of state citizens.

Several other states have already rejected the request from Kris Kobach, President Trump's appointed head of a voter fraud investigation.

It's not clear whether Detzner plans to comply.  Some opponents are questioning whether the request is legal.  

Here's the letter:


Dear Mr. Secretary,

Over the past week, top election officials from around the country—Democrat and Republican—have rejected requests for sensitive voter data from Donald Trump’s “election integrity” commission.

This commission is a total sham. Donald Trump’s assertion that 3 to 5 million votes were cast illegally is an outright lie. This is fearmongering at its worst and a direct attack on the integrity of our electoral process by our nation’s highest officeholder.

The false claim of widespread voter fraud has been universally debunked countless times.  For making this claim, Donald Trump is either massively ignorant and ill-advised, or this is a thinly-veiled attempt at justifying national voter suppression tactics—we believe it is likely a combination of the two.

This request is voluntary and many states have already refused to turn over their citizens’ data. We remind you that complying with this request may put voters at risk of identity theft, encroach federal rights to privacy, and violate the Federal Voting Rights Act in addition to the Florida Constitution.

There are certainly issues in our electoral system that should be addressed—foreign attempts to influence our elections come to mind most immediately.

It is outrageous for the President to abuse his bully pulpit to spread such an egregious lie. By propagating this absurd claim, Donald Trump is severely undercutting the credibility of our democracy—to the citizens of this nation and to the members of the international community.

We strongly urge our state government to show good judgement and reject Donald Trump's request for the private information of Florida voters. To entertain the notion of massive voter fraud—where there is none— is to put our democracy in jeopardy. We trust that the administration will put politics aside in this instance and do the right thing.

Sincerely,

Stephen Bittel, Florida Democratic Party Chair 

Oscar Braynon, Senate Leader                                                                                                                         

Jeff Clemens, Senate Leader-Designate                                                                                                     

Janet Cruz, House Leader                                                                                                                       

Kionne McGhee, House Leader-Designate


photo credit: Getty Images


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