NASHVILLE – Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett said today his office legally can’t agree to a request from President Donald Trump’s commission on election integrity to provide personal information about voters.
“Although I appreciate the commission’s mission to address election-related issues, like voter fraud, Tennessee state law does not allow my office to release the voter information requested to the federal commission,” Hargett, a Republican, said in a statement.
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a Republican, is serving as vice chairman of Trump’s recently created Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity.
In a letter sent Wednesday to election officials across the country, Kobach asked for their recommendations on any changes in federal law in areas like ensuring integrity of elections.
But Kobach also said that “for the Commission to fully analyze vulnerabilities and issues related to voter registration and voting, I am requesting that you provide to the Commission the publicly available voter roll data for Tennessee, including, if publicly available under the laws of your state” information voters’ full first and last names, middle names or initials, addresses, dates of birth, political party and last four digits of voters’ Social Security numbers.