Chairman Zody Calls on Lawson to Address Federal Government’s Request for Personal Information of Hoosier Voters

INDIANAPOLIS–On Friday, Indiana Democratic Party Chairman John Zody called on Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson to be transparent with Hoosiers on whether she intends to comply with the federal government’s request for the personal information of all Hoosier voters.

“Indiana law is very specific about what voter information is and is not available to the public, and the letter from the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity asks for information that is above and beyond what is allowed under state statute,” said Zody. “As a member of this commission, is Secretary Lawson going to comply with existing state statute or try to maneuver around it and provide extensive personal information of more than 4.3 million registered voters in our state?”

The request for information has come from Commission Vice Chair Kris Kobach, the incumbent Kansas Secretary of State. The request asks for the name, address, date of birth, social security number information, voting history, law enforcement record and political party of every voter in the United States – all in the wake of unsubstantiated claims from President Trump that millions voted illegally in last year’s elections.

“For the federal government to ask state election administrators to provide information on every registered voter in their states is both an intrusion on the ability for states to administer and uphold the integrity of a de-centralized election administration system in our country, and a violation of the privacy of millions upon millions of voters. Connie Lawson owes an immediate explanation to Hoosiers on what her plans are to respond to this egregious request by a Commission that was formed on the premise of unfounded claims of voter fraud in the 2016 elections.”

In calling on Secretary Lawson to be transparent and announce her intentions, Zody has joined other officials across the country to call on the Election Integrity Commission to make public all information pertaining to its mission, investigations and meetings, the first of which is to be held in July.