Trevor Potter: Presidential Election Commission Focused on Manufacturing Evidence to Support Its Own Foregone Conclusions
Trevor Potter, president of Campaign Legal Center (CLC), a Member of Caplin & Drysdale and a former Republican chairman of the Federal Election Commission (FEC), released the following statement on the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, which has its first meeting scheduled today:
Our elections face serious concerns including attempted foreign cyber intrusions, partisan motivated voter suppression, and the desperate need for modernization of our election administration and voting technology. Voters should demand a true bipartisan effort to tackle these problems.
Rather than address these pressing issues in a bipartisan manner, this presidential commission already seems to be blindly focused on manufacturing evidence to support its own foregone conclusions to further partisan objectives. This commission has no meaningful bipartisan credentials and its purpose is based on false charges of voter fraud that have already been repeatedly disproven. Sadly, the work of this commission promises only to further undermine and erode faith in our electoral process.
In the past two decades, there have been several truly bipartisan commissions that have produced reputable reports on how to improve our elections. If this commission wanted to investigate current problems facing U.S. elections, it could continue that work and explore ways to improve election administration, including the cybersecurity of our election systems and the growing need for better election infrastructure. Instead, this commission is focused on a misguided effort to advance one party’s political goals. The bipartisan work to improve our elections will continue but this commission is not a part of it.
Trevor Potter is a Member in Caplin & Drysdale's Washington, D.C., office, where he leads the firm's Political Law Group. He is one of the nation's best-known and experienced campaign and election lawyers. A former Commissioner and Chairman of the Federal Election Commission, and counsel to several Presidential campaigns, Mr. Potter has been described by the American Bar Association Journal as "hands-down one of the top lawyers in the country on the delicate intersection of politics, law, and money." www.caplindrysdale.com
The Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan organization based in Washington, D.C., is home to the nation’s premier election law experts. We are the lawyers for our democracy, fighting for your fundamental right to participate in the political process. www.campaignlegalcenter.org
