Even though everyone who knows anything about Kris Kobach understands that his Election Integrity Commission or whatever it's called is a sham, it's always good to get official confirmation. And now we have it.
In spite of the Trump administration's desperate efforts to keep the documents secret, the court has ordered that that some of them be released, with some overly heavy redactions.
McClatchy reports:
The documents have been heavily redacted, but one of the bullet points in Kobach’s presentation to Trump was a suggestion to draft an amendment to the National Voter Registration Act to “promote proof-of-citizenship requirements.”
Kobach contends that the proof-of-citizenship policy prevents non-citizens from voting, but critics say it actually ends up disenfranchising rightful voters as well.
The judge also unsealed a draft amendment that Kobach had circulated within his office that would have added a line to the federal voter law that said states could request any information from voters they deem necessary.
Hey, I can show you unredacted documents from right-wing vote suppression organizations which clearly outline what they plan to do to suppress voting.
Dale Ho, head of ACLU Voter Rights project and the guy who has been representing the voters in court commented on the redactions, which are ridiculous. "It goes to show how desperate they are to keep plans from the public, he said. "We've said from beginning this is a sham, trojan horse to create a narrative to justify restrictions on voting. These documents begin to show this is the case."
Well, yes. Kris Kobach has long been entwined in the larger right wing project to keep people from voting, right alongside True the Vote, which is in the process of working through their plan to suppress votes as they have been since Barack Obama was elected.
This is the right wing dream -- to suppress the votes of people of color, the poor, the working class in order to keep billionaires' candidates in office serving their interests. It's pretty pathetic that they even fought to keep them secret.
Kristen Clarke, Executive Director of the Lawyers' Committee For Civil Rights Under The Law pronounced the documents "a smoking gun."
"They make clear that the agenda for the Election Integrity Commission led by Kris Kobach is simply to lay the groundwork to support a campaign to promote voter suppression laws all across the country," she continued.
Ari Melber framed it perfectly when he asked, "Do you look at it as widespread birtherism?"
I think we all know the answer to that.
Kobach is Jim Crow walking. There absolutely is no question about that. He is now chairing this ridiculous bag-job of a commission that has all the credibility of the Enron Code of Ethics. We’re paying for that. It is a backroom operation to destroy the franchise as exercised by people of whom the president* and Kris Kobach do not approve. Not only is it an ethical mess, but the amount of money being wasted on this glorified snipe hunt should offend as fiscally conservative a public servant as, say, Bob Corker. Go get ‘em, tiger.
Yep. It is obvious, and it is disgraceful. This would be a great thing for a retiring Senator looking for his legacy to tackle. Well, that, and impeaching the disgrace in the White House.
