Ranking Member of the House Oversight Committee Elijah Cummings is harassing the voter integrity group True the Vote, which is led by President Catherine Engelbrecht. Cummings is asking the group to produce a number of documents by October 14 and sent a letter to Engelbrecht last week expressing his concern with the group's "illegimate voter registration challenges," or in other words, efforts to expose voter fraud.
In order to examine why your organization appears to be responsible for so many illegitimate voter registration challenges, I request that you provide the following information and documents:
(1) a list of all individual voter registration challenges by state, county, and precinct submitted to governmental election entities, including correspondence and determinations by election officials relating to each challenge;
(2) copies of all letters sent to states, counties, or other entities alleging non-compliance with the National Voter Registration Act for failing to conduct voter registration list maintenance prior to the November elections;
(3) a list of voter registration rolls by state, county, and precinct that True the Vote is currently reviewing for potential challenges;
(4) copies of all training materials used for volunteers, affiliates, or other entities;
(5) copies of computer programs, research software, and databases used by True the Vote to review voter registration;
(6) all contracts, agreements, and memoranda of understanding between True the Vote and affiliates or other entities relating to the terms of use of True the Vote research software and databases;
(7) a list all organizations and volunteer groups that currently have access to True the Vote computer programs, research software, and databases; and
(8) a list of vendors of voter information, voter registration lists, and other databases used by True the Vote, its volunteers, and its affiliates.
Please provide these documents by October 14, 2012. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Elijah E. CummingsRanking Member
Over the past few weeks, True the Vote has exposed voter registration fraud and cross-state absentee voter fraud in multiple states, many of which are swing states. The organization formally responded to Cummings' allegations by calling them "factually bankrupt."
“As stated in a letter dated October 1 to your colleague Senator Barbara Boxer, I believe we agree on many common goals, such as the right of every American to have the opportunity to participate in a fair and legal electoral process,” True The Vote President, Catherine Engelbrecht said. “As an esteemed Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, it is important that you are apprised of all the facts. Your open letter dated yesterday and comments to CNN this morning demonstrate a second-hand knowledge or poor staff- researched understanding of our organization’s activities.”
Engelbrecht raised awareness to ongoing concerns regarding election integrity, stating, “Election integrity is a serious concern across the nation – the state of Maryland is no exception. In this year alone, as reported by The Washington Post, a federal congressional candidate seeking to join Maryland’s Congressional Delegation was forced to resign from her race by Democratic Party officials after alleged felony double voting was uncovered in her voting history. This week, True The Vote turned over 99 similar cases to authorities in New York, Ohio, Florida and Rhode Island.”
Finally, Engelbrecht offered to help resolve the issue quickly: “It is both obvious and unfortunate that you are not familiar with all of the details of the mission or methods of True the Vote. This letter serves as an effort to coordinate a convenient meeting time in your Washington, D.C. office, during which I can brief you and your staff about our program and help dispel any misconceptions you may have.”
Cummings has a long history of blocking Voter I.D. laws and is an avid supporter of Attorney General Eric Holder.