Louisiana has become the latest state to reject a call for voter information from President Donald Trump's Commission on Election Integrity.
Calling the request "politically motivated," Louisiana Secretary of State Tom Schedler said he will protect voters' information from the Trump administration just as he did earlier from the Obama administration.
"I denied the Obama Justice Department's request and I'm denying President Trump's Commission's request because they are both politically motivated," Schedler said in a prepared statement.
"The release of private information creates a tremendous breach of trust with voters who work hard to protect themselves against identity fraud. That's why it is protected by six federal laws and two state laws."
Disclosure of sensitive information would make voter participation less likely rather than more likely, he said.
"I have been fighting this kind of federal intrusion and overreach, and will continue to fight like hell for the people who trust me with the integrity of our election process," Schedler said.
Critics have accused Trump of forming the commission looking into possible voter fraud because he has said he lost the popular vote only because of illegal voting. Despite losing the popular nationwide vote, Trump's Electoral College victory put him into the Oval Office.
According to Schedler's statement, the Obama Justice Department requested voter information because it believed Louisiana was not registering recipients of state benefits with "sufficient vigor."
More than half the states, including some controlled by Republicans, have said they will not comply with the request for data. Trump over the weekend asked in a tweet what they had to hide.
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