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HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf told the Trump administration Friday he will not cooperate with a presidential commission looking into voting fraud, saying it can purchase publicly available voter lists but can’t post the information online.
The Democratic governor said in a letter to Kris Kobach, vice chairman of the election integrity panel, that the state will not share the detailed information being sought.
“I have serious reservations about the true intentions of this effort in light of the false statements this administration has made regarding voting integrity, the historical suppression of voting rights and the way that such data has been used in the past,” Wolf said.
Wholesale public disclosure of individual voter records is not appropriate and “is contrary” to state law, Wolf said. He also expressed concerns about security of the data.
“The right to vote is absolute and I have no confidence that you seek to bolster it,” Wolf said. “Voter suppression is undemocratic and I will not allow Pennsylvania to participate in this process to further the trend of suppression seen across the country.”
President Donald Trump made false claims about voter fraud in Pennsylvania as a Republican candidate, Wolf said, and as president-elect made unfounded claims about millions of illegal votes having been cast across the country.
Wolf told Kobach he can purchase the publicly available voter file for $20, but state law prevents it from being posted online or being used for commercial purposes. A State Department spokeswoman said that data will not include elements Kobach is seeking, including Social Security and driver’s license numbers.