Minnesota Secretary Denies Trump Commission's Data Request

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon announced Friday he will not comply with a request for voter information made by President Donald Trump's voter fraud investigation commission. In a statement Friday, Simon said he "will not hand over Minnesota voters’ sensitive personal information to the commission."

"As I’ve said before, I have serious doubts about the commission’s credibility and trustworthiness. Its two co-chairs have publicly backed President Trump’s false and irresponsible claim that millions of ineligible votes were cast in the last election."

Simon is not the first official to refuse the request.

Simon added that commission may be steered towards pre-determined conclusions and outcomes:

I fear that the commission risks becoming a partisan tool to shut out millions of eligible American voters.

Yesterday, my office received from the President’s commission a request that I voluntarily produce significant amounts of information on nearly four million Minnesotans who are registered to vote. The commission openly disclosed that all of this requested personal data, including social security numbers and voting history, would be made available to the public.

The commission seems to be distracting attention from the most serious challenge to the integrity of our election system: The threat of cyber-attacks by outside forces, including foreign governments, who seek to disrupt and undermine our elections. Cyber-security is where we need to concentrate our attention and energy.

Fortunately, Minnesota has rigorous safety measures in place before, on, and after Election Day to ensure our elections are fair and secure. We know that Minnesotans have confidence in the integrity of our system because our voters just returned us to number one in voter turnout in America.

Several GOP-affiliated officials have also denied the commission's request.

Trump has repeatedly and without evidence said that "millions" of people voted illegally in the 2016 presidential election.

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