Story highlights Waldman: President Trump has turned to Kris Kobach to figure out what should be done about the American election system

Expect him to recommend more restrictions, more hurdles, more suppression of votes, Waldman says

Paul Waldman is a senior writer with The American Prospect, a left-leaning magazine, and a blogger for The Washington Post. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

(CNN) When the White House said a few months ago that it would be forming a commission to investigate voter fraud, some laughed. After all, this bold action was prompted by President Donald Trump's delusional insistence that he would have won the popular vote had it not been for the millions of people who voted illegally for Hillary Clinton.

Were they going to appoint a commission on How Trump Had the Biggest Inaugural Crowd in History while they were at it?

Paul Waldman

But now it's not so funny. Trump has signed an executive order creating the Advisory Commission on Election Integrity , and it will be chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, with Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach serving as vice chair. Kobach's involvement shows that this is a deadly serious enterprise, one whose goal is to take Republican vote suppression efforts nationwide.

If you've heard of Kris Kobach, it's probably because of his endless crusade to convince people that every election brings a wave of illegal votes -- undocumented immigrants streaming to the polls, dead people voting, people voting in multiple states -- and this scourge on our democracy can only be stopped with laws that put hurdles in front of the exercise of the franchise.

Two years ago, Kobach prevailed upon Kansas lawmakers to give him the power to prosecute voter fraud cases, an authority no other secretary of state in the country has. Despite Kobach's tireless efforts, he has managed to successfully prosecute only eight cases of voter fraud, among the millions of votes cast in his state over that time. Only one involved an undocumented immigrant.

Read More