Statement by Secretary Gorbea on the U.S. Department of Justice and Kobach Commission Requests

“Our office has received two requests dated June 28, 2017 for voter registration
information. One request is from the U.S. Department of Justice – Civil Rights
Division asking for “information regarding the State’s procedures for compliance
with statewide voter registration list maintenance provisions of the National Voter
Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act.” As I told Rhode Islanders
yesterday, we have been working to maintain the accuracy of our voter lists and I
will share the great work we are doing with the U.S. Department of Justice.

The second request comes from the Vice Chair of the Presidential Advisory Commission
on Election Integrity, Kris Kobach, who is also the Secretary of State of Kansas.
Secretary Kobach was fined for misleading the courts in his own state of Kansas,
where his attempts to disenfranchise Kansas voters have been overthrown by the
courts. It is deeply troubling that he has been given oversight of this commission
by the President.

We are reviewing Secretary Kobach’s request for information.

I will safeguard the privacy of Rhode Island voters and respond only with data that
is already publicly available. I will not release social security information or any
information that was requested by Secretary Kobach regarding felony status, military
status, or overseas citizen information.

As Rhode Island’s Secretary of State, I will continue to make sure that elections
are fair, fast and accurate and that we uphold federal and state law in our work.”

-Rhode Island Secretary of State Nellie M. Gorbea