MADISON, Wis. – During his campaign, President Donald Trump repeatedly alleged massive and widespread voter fraud in the U.S. election system.

After his election, he claimed this voter fraud kept him from winning the popular vote.

Now, the president has signed an executive order creating a federal commission to review voter fraud in America.

Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, points to a number of voting experts and lawmakers who say such fraud does not exist. Heck says the commission has a hidden agenda.

"Donald Trump and the person that he wants to put in charge of this, a guy by the name of Kris Kobach, who is the secretary of state of Kansas – they want to make it even more difficult for more people to vote," Heck asserts.

While Vice President Mike Pence would chair the commission, Kobach actually would run it.

Heck says under Kobach's lead, Kansas has passed some of the most restrictive voting laws in the nation, particularly designed to affect undocumented immigrants.

Trump often has insisted that somewhere between 3 million and 5 million fraudulent votes were cast in the 2016 election. Heck disagrees.

"If you look at elections for the last – since 2000 or even before that – there have been billions of votes cast in the entire country and they cannot find more than a handful of people that voted twice or voted illegally, deliberately," Heck points out.

In recent years, Wisconsin has passed some of the most stringent voter photo-ID laws in the nation, and a study by Priorities USA says the new law reduced turnout in the Badger State by 200,000 votes. Trump won Wisconsin by less than 23,000 votes.

"Wisconsin had the largest voter turnout drop off between the 2016 and 2012 elections,” Heck states. “In other words, there were more people that voted in 2012. The drop off was larger than in any other state except Mississippi."

According to federal court records, nearly 10 percent of Wisconsin voters – 300,000 people – did not have the strict forms of voter ID required by Wisconsin's new law.





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Just a few months after some South Dakota absentee ballots were illegally challenged, officials are concerned slow mail delivery could affect outcomes on Election Day.

Members of the National Association of State Election Officials have sent a letter to the U.S. Postmaster General, expressing concerns about Postal Service performance over the last year. It cited patterns of inconsistent training among staff, lengthy delivery times and a rise in mail returned as undeliverable, which can affect a voter's registration.

Samantha Chapman, advocacy manager for the ACLU of South Dakota, hopes election officials across the state are educating people who request absentee ballots.

"About the possibility of delayed mail service and the importance of expediently filling out those ballots and mailing them back as soon as possible," Chapman stressed.

Chapman encouraged South Dakotans to check the status of their voter registration in case they have been purged through routine maintenance or other changes. The registration deadline is Oct. 21.

A challenge to some absentee ballots cast during the June primary in Minnehaha County nearly caused 100 to be rejected, in a race where candidates were separated by just 83 votes, according to the ACLU. The South Dakota Secretary of State's Office advised state law did not deem the ballots challengeable.

Chapman hopes there are no similar issues on the upcoming Election Day.

"We really, really, really are pushing all of our election administrators to follow the laws that are in place," Chapman explained. "And to use their positions to be an accurate source of information for voters."

The U.S. Postal Service last month proposed a plan to adjust mail delivery starting next year to increase reliance on regional hubs, which could slow delivery to rural areas. It is estimated the plan will save the service $3 billion per year.

National Voter Registration Day is tomorrow, and voting-rights advocates in Nevada want to ensure everyone is set to make their voice heard in November.

Agelina Saldana is the field manager at Silver State Voices, and said despite there being a presidential election this year, she is stressing the importance of down ballot races and initiatives that can have a direct impact on the lives of everyday Nevadans.

"I tell people you aren't just voting for a person when you go to the ballot, we also have these ballot initiatives," said Saldana. "We have many going out this year, many that are really important. One of them is including the right to reproductive rights in our state constitution."

Saldana acknowledged that while apathy surrounding elections is a real struggle, she encouraged voters to take the opportunity to get educated on candidates and initiatives - and vote for the issues that matter to them.

You can check your voter registration at registertovote.nv.gov.

Saldana said their partners have noticed an uptick in Nevadans showing interest in registering to vote.

But she said she does want to remind folks that the deadline for registering to vote in the Silver State depends on how you register. She said October 8 is the deadline for paper voter registration forms.

"This is the deadline essentially if you're going to be mailing in your voter registration form, or if any organizations are registering people using a form," said Saldana. "This is the deadline that we are all looking at."

She added that if you have recently legally changed your name, you should register over a paper form that should then be dropped off at your local elections department.

Saldana added that Nevada also has same-day registration - which is permitted during early voting, starting October 19 through November 1, and on Election Day.

Saldana added that tomorrow throughout the state there will be many events geared towards getting eligible voters registered and ready.

"A lot of our partners will be hosting all types of events," said Saldana. "We are going to be registering high school students, there is going to be puppies, there is going to be DJs, so I really, really encourage people to checkout our Instagram, @SSV.NV, to see all the events that we will be hyping up with our partners."

Groups from Virginia and across the country are working with federal lawmakers to improve voting rights.

They are building support for voting rights bills like the Freedom to Vote Act, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Native American Voting Rights Act. Virginia passed its own voting rights law in 2021, which is modeled after stronger federal legislation.

Christine Wood, co-director of a coalition called the Declaration for American Democracy, said the bills can help clarify questions about how to vote.

"It would create national standards for voting," Wood explained. "No matter what state you moved to or lived in you would have the same baseline access to the polls and the ballots as anyone else."

Virginia is one of many states purging voter rolls of possible noncitizens, amid false claims noncitizen voting in federal elections is an ardent nationwide problem. The opposite is true. Noncitizens voting in federal elections rarely occurs. Some think voter registration form errors are the true culprit. The state removed over 6,300 noncitizens from voter rolls since August.

The groups are also building support for a bill to give Washington, D.C., statehood. Bills providing statehood for D.C. passed twice in the House of Representatives but have not gone further.

Chaitram Aklu, a retired teacher and member of the American Federation of Teachers, said it only seems fair since Washington, D.C., does not have the same rights as states.

"There are several hundred thousand people living in D.C.," Aklu pointed out. "While their representatives are allowed to participate in debate, they do not have a vote and that has been going on for over 220 years."

He added D.C. already pays more taxes per capita than 22 other states, with higher federal taxes than 19 states.

D.C. residents have said a major reason for statehood is the lack of autonomy they have over the district's governing bodies. The President and Congress have the final say on legislation or judicial nominations for D.C. courts. Meanwhile, they only have a lone representative in the House who does not have voting power and no Senate representation.