Federal fraud commission pauses voter data collection. No NC information has been sent.

The federal voter fraud commission is asking states not to send any voter information to Washington while a judge considers a request to stop the data collection.

North Carolina has not sent any voter information to the commission. It had planned to send information that is publicly available.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center is suing to stop the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity from collecting voter data. A federal judge held a hearing to consider a temporary restraining order last week. The presidential commission asked states’ elections officials Monday not to send anything until the judge rules.

The request was sent to North Carolina’s Bipartisan State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement. The federal commission also included it in a court document filed as part of the lawsuit.

“Today, the Commission sent the states a follow-up communication requesting the states not submit any data until this Court rules on this TRO motion,” commission vice-chairman Kris Kobach wrote in the court filing.

A letter from Kobach last month triggered a wave of protest. Though the letter asked for publicly available information, it included specific items that in many states are not public, such as partial Social Security numbers. The commission asked for the voter data by July 14.

The North Carolina elections board has received hundreds of calls and emails about its decision to send publicly available data. Some voters have asked to cancel their voter registration, which state officials are trying to discourage. The agency says it is required to provide the publicly available information under state law.

Some states have refused to send anything. U.S. Rep. Alma Adams, a Charlotte Democrat, asked the North Carolina elections board to join that group in a statement Monday.

“I urge the Board of Elections to reconsider compromising voter’s privacy and security and refuse the commission’s request in its entirety,” Adams said.

This story was originally published July 10, 2017 at 5:23 PM with the headline "Federal fraud commission pauses voter data collection. No NC information has been sent.."