Donald Trump has officially signed an executive order to dissolve his voter fraud commission on Wednesday. It was first created last May after the president claimed the 2016 election was rigged and that millions of immigrants illegally voted (despite him winning).
The White House issued the following statement (via NBC News),
“Despite substantial evidence of voter fraud, many states have refused to provide the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity with basic information relevant to its inquiry. Rather than engage in endless legal battles at taxpayer expense, today I signed an executive order to dissolve the commission, and have asked the Department of Homeland Security to review these issues and determine next courses of action."
The voter fraud panel has been hit with lawsuit after lawsuit since its induction on May 11, 2017, so voting rights advocates who were against the commission can now revel in the news. Its controversy stemmed from its first act, where the commission requested "reams of data on every registered voter from every state, including personal information such as party affiliation, address, criminal background, and partial social security numbers." Vice President Mike Pence fronted as the panel's chairman, and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach took on the role of vice chairman.
According to TIME, studies have shown that voter fraud is exceptionally rare anyway. So was the panel's creation even worth it in the end?
