On Wednesday, in response to the New York State Board of Elections turning over information to President Trump’s Election Commission, both Governor Andrew Cuomo and Assemblyman Michael Blake (D-Bronx) released separate statements.
The President’s Election Commission initially requested voter information, including criminal history and Social Security numbers, from the Cuomo Administration through the Secretary of State, which was rejected. The Commission then requested the information from the State Board of Elections, which was also rejected.
The Commission then submitted a revised request to the Board of Elections under the Freedom of Information Law only for publicly available information – without any Social Security numbers, criminal history, or other sensitive personal data. Such requests are often made by any member of the public and produced several times a day to multiple requestors ranging from candidates to journalists to interested members of the public.
The Board of Elections granted and responded to the Commission’s request for general information, but nothing further.
Governor Cuomo released the following statement:
“To be clear, the original letter from the President’s Election Commission requested information that the Commission is not legally entitled to obtain. Accordingly, our administration rejected that request because it not only violated privacy rights – but also state law. Our position remains unchanged and we will continue to deny requests for sensitive personal data about New York residents, which is protected under the law. We will never provide private voter information to anyone, especially a politically-motivated organization seeking to perpetuate the myth of voter fraud.”
Bronx Assembly Member Michael Blake released the following statement:
“Today, the State Board of Elections turned over voter information to President Trump’s Election Commission, validating the false claims that voter fraud is a pervasive problem in the United States.
This commission is designed to further disenfranchise communities of color, scapegoating them as the perpetrators of voter fraud. I am disappointed in the Board of Elections for this breach of trust and encourage them to discontinue any further cooperation with the Commission.”
Follow Us