Klobuchar seeks information to ensure privacy and voting rights of millions of Americans are not at risk
Letter follows Presidential Commission on Election Integrity’s broad request of sensitive personal information on American voters that is often not publicly available, including the names, addresses, dates of birth, political party, voter history, and the last four digits of Americans' social security numbers
WASHINGTON, DC — Following a request yesterday from the Presidential Commission on Election Integrity asking state election officials to turn over their full voter roll data, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar today voiced opposition to the Commission’s broad request of sensitive personal information on American voters that is often not publicly available, including the names, addresses, dates of birth, political party, voter history, and the last four digits of Americans' social security numbers. In a letter, Klobuchar asks the Commission to provide information in order to ensure that voting rights and the privacy of millions of Americans are not at risk.
“I write to oppose the Presidential Commission on Election Integrity's June 28th letter requesting sensitive voter roll data from state election officials and to request information regarding how the Presidential Commission on Election Integrity intends to use and protect the data,” Klobuchar wrote.
“It was recently disclosed that 21 states were victims of attempted election hacks by Russia,” Klobuchar continued. “In the letter the Commission requests personal information on American voters that is often not publicly available, including the names, addresses, dates of birth, political party, voter history, and the last four digits of Americans' social security numbers. This data is highly sensitive and given recent data breeches, I am concerned about maintaining the security and privacy of the data.”
Thursday, Klobuchar, the ranking member on the Rules Committee, called the Presidential Commission on Election Integrity into question and requested details of the Commission’s compliance with the Federal Advisory Commission Act (FACA). Along with Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Gary Peters (D-MI), and 12 other senators, Klobuchar demanded details as to the Commission’s procedures and protocols of the Commission to ensure covered records are properly preserved and made accessible.
Klobuchar this week introduced legislation to improve the security of U.S. election systems and make commonsense improvements to election administration. In early January, Klobuchar introduced legislation with four other senators to create an independent, nonpartisan commission to comprehensively investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election. Klobuchar was recently in Ukraine, the Baltic states, and Georgia to reinforce support for our Eastern European allies and to focus on mounting international cybersecurity threats. The bipartisan congressional delegation was led by Republican Senator John McCain from Arizona, the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and also included Klobuchar and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
The full text of the letter is below:
Dear Chairman Pence and Vice-chairman Kobach:
I write to oppose the Presidential Commission on Election Integrity's June 28th request for sensitive voter roll data from state election officials and to request information regarding how the Presidential Commission on Election Integrity intends to use and protect the data if it obtains it.
In the letter the Commission requests personal information on American voters that is often not publicly available, including the names, addresses, dates of birth, political party, voter history, and the last four digits of Americans' social security numbers. This data is highly sensitive and given recent data breeches, I am deeply concerned about maintaining the security and privacy of the data.
For this reason, Secretaries of States from across the country have voiced concerns about this broad request with several already saying they will not supply this data. As Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon has stated, "when it comes to voting information, that's private stuff and it's really no one's business except a few people's on a need to know basis."
In addition to voicing my opposition to this request involving the private data of all voting Americans, I ask that you provide me with the following information in order to ensure that voting rights and the privacy of millions of Americans are not at risk.
- How do you intend to store and protect the data you receive from state election officials?
- What databases do you intend to match the voter data with and how will you work to ensure those databases are current?
- What do you intend to do with the information obtained from cross checking the data?
- What is your response to state election officials across the country who are refusing to supply this data because of privacy and cyber security concerns?
- It was recently disclosed that 21 states were victims of attempted election hacks by Russia. When one of the major issues for our U.S. democracy today is protecting our state election systems from cyber-attacks, why would the Commission think it is a good idea to collect state-by-state voter information? One of the best protections we have is the decentralized nature of our elections. Why do you think centralizing this data is a good idea under those circumstances?
Please provide your responses to these questions in writing by July 6th, 2017. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
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