Democratic Federal Election Commission (FEC) [official website] member Ellen Weintraub [official profile] in a statement [text, PDF] on Friday urged President Donald Trump to present evidence of his claims of extensive voter fraud in New Hampshire. Earlier this week Trump alleged that thousands of voters from Massachusetts had been successful in illegally voting in New Hampshire. Trump further alleged that the voter fraud led himself and Senator Kelly Ayotte [official profile] to lose close races in New Hampshire. Weintraub called the allegation ‘astonishing’ and noted that if true, the voter fraud would constitute thousands of felony criminal offenses under New Hampshire law. Weintraub further noted the seriousness and specificity of the allegations, urging Trump to share his evidence, so that an investigation can commence.

Voter fraud has been a hot button issue of late. Several states have enacted statutes to address the issue, often by setting a stricter requirement for what type of ID is necessary to be allowed to vote. Some have argued [JURIST commentary] however, that having stricter voter ID laws will not improve the integrity of elections. In April 2016 the Arizona Superior Court dismissed [JURIST report] a lawsuit alleging voter fraud during the 2016 primaries. In January the US Supreme Court refused to hear [JURIST report] a lawsuit about a Texas voter ID law, that would limit IDs that could be used to vote to seven specified government issued IDs.