By John Bender
Rhode Island Public Radio
September 29, 2017
Former Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Block has accused the state Board of Elections of violating federal election law by failing to collect personal data about some newly registered voters. He made his concerns known in a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice and shared the allegations with several media outlets, including RIPR.
According to a federal law adopted in 2002, states must require drivers’ license numbers or the last four digits of a social security number when registering new voters. Block alleges that Rhode Island hasn’t always collected that information since a rule change in 2008.
Block says he investigated Rhode Island’s practices on his own and as part of his work with an organization called the Government Accountability Institute, a conservative group that has been linked to former Trump advisor Steve Bannon. GAI has issued several reports on issues including voting and elections, but has faced criticism from some public officials and scholars who study voting.
The group presented findings to President Trump’s commission looking into voter fraud in September.
Block maintains he is not suggesting that missing personal information has led to voter fraud in Rhode Island, but he is concerned about the integrity of the voting system.
“Right now, the only thing I can call is that we have 22,000-plus voters who voted in 2016 without required identification data that federal law mandates,” Block said. “That’s the only thing I know for sure right now.”
