People Everywhere Are Trashing Trump’s “Election Integrity” Commission

“Is this where we file complaints about the guy who lost the election but still became president?”

Win Mcnamee/ZUMA

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The White House on Thursday released 112 pages worth of emails sent to the Trump administration’s new “election integrity” commission, which recently requested that all 50 states submit detailed voter information, including Social Security numbers, personal addresses, and more, in order to investigate alleged voter fraud in the 2016 election.

Critics say the task force, which is being spearheaded by Vice President Mike Pence and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, is nothing more than an unprecedented effort aimed at suppressing the vote in future elections. Voting experts have long concluded incidents of election fraud in the United States are vanishingly rare. President Donald Trump has claimed falsely that 3 million to 5 million people voted illegally in the election, offering no evidence to back this assertion.

Based on the overwhelmingly derisive comments left for the commission, the public appears to largely agree with its critics. Here are some of the standouts:

“This commission is a sham and Kris Kobach has been put on it expressly to disenfranchise minority voters. I am ashamed that my taxpayer dollars are being used for such purposes.”—Charlie Ticotsky

“Is this where we file complaints about the guy who lost the election but still became president?”—John Butler

“I wholeheartedly support California’s decision not to send you the voter data you requested. Your lack of integrity and refusal to acknowledge basic facts undermines our democracy.”—Bob Worobec

“Just fuck off already you shit-stain on democracy.”—CB

“I pay the government a boat load of taxes, so you work for me. I think you are doing a terrible job. Explain yourself.”—Diane Hallinen

“Quit screwing around with voter suppression!”—Gary Weidner

One email recommended the commission investigate goatse—an infamous internet meme featuring a naked man posing in an unsavory fashion.

The emails are well worth reading in full. Check out all 112 pages below:

DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do things differently in the aftermath of a political crisis: Watergate. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after, and go deep on, stories others don’t. And we’re a nonprofit newsroom because we knew corporations and billionaires would never fund the journalism we do. Our reporting makes a difference in policies and people’s lives changed.

And we need your support like never before to vigorously fight back against the existential threats American democracy and journalism face. We’re running behind our online fundraising targets and urgently need all hands on deck right now. We can’t afford to come up short—we have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

Please help with a donation today if you can—even just a few bucks helps. Not ready to donate but interested in our work? Sign up for our Daily newsletter to stay well-informed—and see what makes our people-powered, not profit-driven, journalism special.

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