Heritage Expert Joins Presidential Election Integrity Commission

HERITAGE IMPACT

Heritage Expert Joins Presidential Election Integrity Commission

Jul 19, 2017

The commission, chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, will meet for the first time July 17, 2017 at the White House. Photo: iStock

Late last month, President Donald Trump named Heritage’s expert on election integrity and voter fraud to his Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity.

Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow in Heritage’s Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies and manager of the Election Law Reform Initiative, will join elected officials and other election experts to investigate the American voter registration and election process, including instances of fraudulent voting.

President Trump set up the election integrity commission in early May because of concerns over voter fraud, illegal voters, and other problems such as inaccurate and faulty voter registration rolls. According to The Hill, the Trump transition team cited Spakovsky’s research when claiming he would have “won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.”

At Heritage, Spakovsky publishes research reports and commentary and is on television and radio regularly on the issues of voter fraud, voter ID laws, campaign finance restrictions, and voting equipment standards.
 

Spakovsky, a former Federal Elections Commission member appointed by George W. Bush, also heads Heritage’s Election Integrity Project that not only examines how to protect the integrity of campaigns and elections but to achieve greater fairness and security. This project includes Heritage’s extensive database of voter fraud cases across the country.

“I am delighted that President Trump has seen fit to name Hans von Spakovsky to the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity,” said John Malcolm, vice president for the Institute for Constitutional Government. “I have known Hans for nearly 30 years. He is one of the nation’s foremost authorities on election law and on the many vulnerabilities that imperil the integrity of our elections.”

“He brings a wealth of experience as a former local election official, Federal Election Commissioner, and Justice Department official, and as a current Heritage scholar, all of which should prove invaluable to the Commission’s vital work,” Malcolm said.

The commission, chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, will meet for the first time July 19, with a ceremonial swearing in of members and a discussion the Commission’s charge and objectives. A livestream will be available on https://www.whitehouse.gov/live.

To learn more about Spakovsky’s research click here.