The Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap is suing the voter fraud commission for not living up to its legislature mandate in the Federal Advisory Committee Act requiring it be bipartisan and transparent. Dunlap claims he did not receive all documents in advance that were part of a July meeting. Subsequently he was not asked to participate in fact gathering or analysis or for input on agendas or issues. Members of Congress have also been deprived of information about the commission’s activities. (Law Newz, November 9, 2017, by Ronn Blitzer)
Dunlap’s lawsuit also alleged that the commission was not using e-mail transparently. Vice chair Kris Kobach of Kansas said he had also not received certain correspondence about commission work and attributed the problem to pending litigation against the commission, the death of a commissioner and an arrest of a staff member. (TMP, November 9, 2017, by Tierney Sneed)
Dunlap said he addressed the commission multiple times about his concerns with no success so felt obligated to sue. Kobach called he lawsuit “baseless and paranoid” and a waste of commission time and resources. But Dunlap cited evidence he was excluded, a Kobach letter to the states asking for voter rolls. In drafting the letter, Kobach only conferred with two Republicans who only later joined the commission. (ProPublica, November 9, 2017, by Jessica Huseman)