Refusing a conspiracist data demand and explaining why defeated the commission.

Evidence

The commission demanded that every state turn over its complete voter files (including every voter’s name, address, date of birth, voter history from 2006 on, party identification, voting records, military status, overseas citizen information, prosecution for electoral crimes, and felony convictions, as well as the last four digits of each voter’s Social Security number). It also announced an intention to make this information public. Almost every state refused to hand over its data. Some states sent only publicly available information; others would not comply at all. New York governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, said his state “refuses to perpetuate the myth [that] voter fraud played a role in our election.” The commission has also been sued by a privacy watchdog group and civil rights and voting rights groups. Those who resisted the commission and explained why—governors, secretaries of state, and citizen groups—enacted democracy. It was effective: in January 2018, the president precipitously disbanded the commission. — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 357

Categorization

• XREF: This refusal-by-officials episode parallels the civic/republican democratic-participation theme Rosenblum opposes to conspiracism; connects to the standing interest in institutions as bulwarks against conspiracy. — connects to: State officials defeated Trump’s voter-fraud commission by refusing data — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 357

Broader Connections

• State officials defeated Trump’s voter-fraud commission by refusing data #exemplifies (1.00) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 357