Trump election fraud commission hits pause on voter data request to Wisconsin, other states

MADISON - The Wisconsin Elections Commission will not release any voter data to President Donald Trump's election fraud commission until a lawsuit against the federal commission is resolved, a state official said Monday.

The Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity asked state election officials Monday to hold off providing any voter data until a judge makes an initial ruling in the lawsuit by a privacy group. 

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the vice chairman of the president's commission, is seeking information about voters and the record of their election participation going back to 2006. The data include their names, birthdays and the last four digits of their Social Security numbers. 

Wisconsin officials had previously said they couldn't legally share some of that data — now they're saying they'll hold off for now on sharing any of it. 

"The Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity today asked states including Wisconsin not to respond to its voter data request until a federal judge can rule on a request for a temporary restraining order ... The WEC’s response is on hold until this legal question has been resolved," said Michael Haas, the executive director of the state election commission. 

The Electronic Privacy Information Center filed the legal challenge on June 28 seeking to block the Trump commission's request for the voter data.

In an email Monday, Andrew Kossack of the Trump commission told states to hold off sending any information for now.

"Until the judge rules on the temporary restraining order, we request that you hold on submitting any data. We will follow up with you with further instructions once the judge issues her ruling," wrote Kossack, a designated federal officer with the presidential advisory commission. 

Dozens of states have declined to provide at least some data in Kobach's request, either because of concerns about the presidential commission or because state rules and laws prohibit the release. 

On June 30, Haas said that state laws prohibit his agency from giving the presidential commission a voter's date of birth, driver's license number or Social Security number. 

But Haas did say that the president's commission could buy more limited data on the full voter rolls from Wisconsin for $12,500 — the same price that many political campaigns already pay to get the same public data from the state.