It was reported on Wednesday that Donald Trump dissolved his commission that was set up to investigate allegations of voter fraud due to too many states not complying with the administration's request from information. In response, the president lashed out on social media.
Trump on voter fraud
The issue of voter fraud has been a topic often used by Republicans during each election cycle despite the overwhelming amount of evidence showing that it isn't a widespread issue. Republicans have long accused Democrats of allowing dead people and illegal immigrants to vote, which has turned into a right-wing talking point and internet meme in recent years.
Doubling down on the issue has been Donald Trump, who claimed illegal voting was the reason he lost the popular vote against Hillary Clinton in November 2016. In response to the news that states were not working with his commission in handing over data that could potentially prove voter fraud, the president went off in a pair of tweets on January 4.
Many mostly Democrat States refused to hand over data from the 2016 Election to the Commission On Voter Fraud. They fought hard that the Commission not see their records or methods because they know that many people are voting illegally. System is rigged, must go to Voter I.D.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018
Taking to Twitter on Thursday afternoon, Donald Trump blamed Democrats for illegal voting in the country, while defending his push for increased voter identification.
"Many mostly Democrat States refused to hand over data from the 2016 Election to the Commission On Voter Fraud," Trump tweeted out.
As Americans, you need identification, sometimes in a very strong and accurate form, for almost everything you do.....except when it comes to the most important thing, VOTING for the people that run your country. Push hard for Voter Identification!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018
"They fought hard that the Commission not see their records or methods because they know that many people are voting illegally," Donald Trump went on to tweet, accusing elections in the United States of being "rigged." "As Americans, you need identification, sometimes in a very strong and accurate form, for almost everything you do," Trump wrote in a follow-up tweet, before adding, "Push hard for Voter Identification!"
Trump dissolves controversial voter-fraud commission, blames states for not providing information https://t.co/4I0rHhRpTj
— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 4, 2018
Voter fraud myth
Despite Donald Trump and other Republicans claiming that voter fraud is major problem in the country, the Brennan Center for Justice studied the issue and found that it is rare in American elections.
According to a recent study, the Brennan Center found that just 0.0003 percent to 0.0025 percent of votes could be considered fraudulent. In addition, a detailed study published by the Washington Post back in 2014 found that just 31 out of 1 billion ballots investigated between 2000 and 2014 could be considered illegal. The information from both studies has been made public and are well-documented, but the White House has yet to offer a comment in their response to its findings.
