CNN commentator falsely states that Russian interference is “part of the president's voter integrity panel”
Published
On CNN's State of the Union, CNN commentator Alice Stewart claimed that “part of the president's voter integrity panel” is an investigation into Russian efforts to influence the election. In fact, after two members of the commission -- the secretaries of state of New Hampshire and Maine, both Democrats -- said they wanted to investigate the issue, the commission’s vice chairman, Kris Kobach, stated, “[I]f it’s something the commission wants to discuss, we can.” But Kobach also noted that “In the initial descriptions of the commission, election security and the integrity of equipment and voter databases was not specifically described,” and he did not commit to looking into Russian interference.
The commission has been criticized by experts as a solution in search of a problem (voter fraud is extremely rare) and has been seen as a possible excuse for voter suppression. Local media in Kobach’s home state of Kansas also called him out for his “baseless declarations about voter fraud” and argued that “Since the non-problem of in-person voter fraud … is inflated to push through laws that disenfranchise, this whole commission isn’t just unnecessary but wrong.”
From the July 16 edition of CNN's State of the Union: