Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson said she will give some voter information to the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity as requested, but Indiana civic groups and others argue in a lawsuit submitted to Lake County court Tuesday that doing so violates state law. Lawson is a member of the controversial Commission, which is chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, the former governor of Indiana.
“There’s no question that this commission is laying the groundwork for potential voter suppression,” said Patsy Hoyer and Oscar Anderson, co-presidents of the League of Women Voters of Indiana. “The request for data came from someone who has a history of advocating for voter suppression laws, and state officials should be using every tool at their disposal, including state law, to protect their sensitive information.”
The Indiana NAACP joins the League of Women Voters of Indiana as a plaintiff in the case.
“The NAACP has fought for fair voting rights since it was founded,” said Barbara Bolling-Williams of the Indiana State Conference of the NAACP. “This Commission is full of people who want to suppress the vote. Not on our watch.”
Indiana law only allows certain parties access to computerized voter registration information for certain purposes, and the Commission’s investigation and public disclosure of data does not qualify. To legally obtain a limited amount of data from voter rolls, the panel must enter into a written agreement with the Secretary of State’s Election Division that prevents it from using the information in certain ways. Lawson made no mention of such an agreement in her response to the Commission’s request.
