FIGHTING “FRAUD” OR UNDERMINING VOTING RIGHTS?
A must read.,,,
“Mr. Kobach, the ‘architect of voter ID and other restrictive voter registration laws,’ has been urging the EAC for years to make this change but was unsuccessful until Mr. Newby’s appointment as EAC executive director,” Karl Frisch, executive director of Allied Progress.
http://whowhatwhy.org/2016/04/09/fighting-fraud-undermining-voting-rights/
A top federal Election Assistance Commission (EAC) official is under fire for secretly communicating with a proponent of more restrictive voting laws.
In light of the revelation, the progressive advocacy group Allied Progress has asked for an investigation of the behavior of EAC Executive Director Brian Newby to determine if he violated agency policy by exchanging private emails with Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach — his former mentor who helped him get the job at the commission.
The EAC is a relatively obscure government agency established by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 that is tasked with improving voter access and certifying voting systems. But, critics say, recent changes to voting laws authorized by Newby in Kansas, Alabama and Georgia are doing the opposite by requiring applicants to present proof of citizenship on the federal voter registration form.
“These laws are designed to keep very specific people from exercising their rights to vote in our democracy,” Karl Frisch, executive director of Allied Progress, told WhoWhatWhy.
When Newby gave the three states his OK, then-EAC vice-chairman Thomas Hicks strongly criticized the action and said it “contradicts policy and precedent previously established by this Commission.” Hicks is currently the chairman of the EAC.
