TODAY at 3PM: Ahead of First Trump Vote Commissions Meeting, CBC, Judiciary Democrats to hold forum on Voting Rights and Privacy Concerns

RSVP email: Shadawn.reddick-smith@mail.house.gov

MEDIA ADVISORY
July 18, 2017
Contact: Shadawn Reddick-Smith, Shadawn.Reddick-Smith@mail.house.gov (Judiciary)
Kamara Jones, Kamara.Jones@mail.house.gov (CBC)

TODAY at 3PM: AHEAD OF 1ST TRUMP VOTER COMMISSION MEETING, CBC, JUDICIARY DEMOCRATS TO HOLD FORUM ON VOTING RIGHTS & PRIVACY CONCERNS

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ahead of Trump’s voter commission’s first meeting, the Congressional Black Caucus and House Judiciary Committee Democrats will host a forum on Tuesday, July 18, 2017 at 3 p.m. to examine voting rights and privacy concerns related to recent requests made by the commission’s co-chair, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.

In June, the Department of Justice and Pence-Kobach commission sent letters to secretaries of state and election officials in all 50 states asking that they provide voter registration list maintenance procedures and detailed voter-roll information, including name, address, birth dates, political party affiliation, voting history, Social Security numbers, and military status. There has been bipartisan push back throughout the country in response to these requests.

The Congressional Black Caucus sent letters to the National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors raising concerns that these requests may lead to voter suppression and privacy violations. In their letters, the Members wrote, “The breadth of the information requested, including name, address, birth dates, political party affiliation, voting history, Social Security digits, and military status among other personal information is not only overwhelming but chilling from a civil rights and liberties perspective. In addition to being used to conduct further discriminatory voter purges, one shudders to think of the many ways this information could be misused.”

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus also sent a letter to the Secretaries of State to raise concerns.

Exacerbating concerns, the White House recently released sensitive information in public comments detailing frustration and concerns about the commission’s efforts and privacy protections. The commission is holding its first meeting on July 19th in Washington, DC.

WHO: Members of Congress

• House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)
• Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA), Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus
• Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA), Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
• Rep. Tony Cardenas (D-CA), Congressional Hispanic Caucus
• Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA)
• Rep. Marc Veasey (D-TX)
• Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA)
• Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)
• Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH)
• Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX)
• Rep. Al Green (D-TX)
• Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI)
• Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD)
• Rep. Val Demings (D-FL)
• Additional Members of Congress

Panelists

• Secretary Alison Lundergan-Grimes, Secretary of State, Kentucky
• Secretary Denise Merrill, Secretary of State, Connecticut
• Wade Henderson, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
• Marc Rotenberg, Electronic Privacy Information Center
• Kristen Clarke, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
• Janai Nelson, NAACP Legal Defense Fund

WHAT: Forum on Voting Rights and Privacy under the Pence-Kobach Commission

WHEN: Tuesday, July 18, 2017 at 3:00p.m. EST

WHERE: 2247 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

RSVP: Media interested in attending should RSVP to Shadawn.reddick- smith@mail.house.gov.

Live Stream: The forum will also be streamed live on House Judiciary Democrats’ Facebook page.

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RSVP: Shadawn.reddick-smith@mail.house.gov

Shadawn Reddick-Smith| Communications Director
House Judiciary Committee – Democratic Staff
202-225-6906 / @HouseJudDems