A lawsuit over Utah’s voter rolls is still up in the air — and so might President Trump’s voter fraud commission that requested the data in the first place.
President Trump created the Election Integrity Commission at the beginning of his term to investigate unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud during the election — costing him the popular vote, so he claimed.
That led to a blanket request to all 50 states for their voting rolls, including more sensitive data such as birth dates and voting history.
The Utah League of Women Voters and League of United Latin American Citizens sued the Lieutenant Governor’s office over the summer to stop the state from complying.
According to their lawyer, David Irvine, a settlement is still in negotiations.
“We’re interested in an arrangement that gives the plaintiffs some legally enforceable options to assure that Utah law on voter registration disclosure is scrupulously followed,” he says.
Utah's director of elections, Mark Thomas, says no information has been turned over to the commission while the suit is pending. But they have filed the necessary records request.
Yet, even some members of Trump’s commission reported this week that they were uncertain of the group’s future. So far they’ve only held two meetings and don’t have another one scheduled.
“If the administration decides to drop the issue altogether, I don’t believe anyone in Utah is going to be disappointed," says Irvine.
Irvine says if the administration disbands the commission, the issue will again be moot.
