Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) today sent a letter to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), a nonpartisan, independent agency, requesting its review of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity.
Since President Trump established the Commission by executive order in May 2017, states across the country have expressed concern that the Commission is having the effect of suppressing voter participation. For instance, over 5,000 Coloradans withdrew their voter registrations in response to the Commission’s request for information. Since then, the Chairman of the Commission has made unsubstantiated claims about voting in the 2016 elections.
In the letter, the senators urged the GAO to investigate the Commission’s motives and the influence of its work.
The creation and operations of the Commission “are cause for serious concern,” the senators wrote. “Investigative reports raise questions about the partisan motives and actions of the Commission.”
The manner in which the Commission is conducting its work “will prevent the public from a full and transparent understanding of the Commission’s conclusions and unnecessarily diminish confidence in our democratic process,” the senators continued.
The senators requested the GAO examine the steps the Commission is taking to address voter participation and protect voter information, the research and analysis it is using to inform its work, and the amount of federal funds expended to support its work, among other requests.
The senators noted that several requests seeking clarification on the Commission’s activities made by Members of Congress have been ignored. Last month, Bennet and Booker filed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would have required the GAO to audit the Commission. Bennet and Booker also have called for the termination of the Commission.
A copy of the letter can be found HERE.