Hosemann tells Trump commission 'go jump in the Gulf' on voter records

Geoff Pender | Mississippi Clarion Ledger

Show Caption Hide Caption What info does Trump voting commission want? President Donald Trump's voting commission requested detailed information on every voter in the U.S.

Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann's response to Donald Trump's commission seeking info on all states' registered voters is "go jump in the Gulf" — he doesn't plan to provide such records.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, vice chairman of Trump's Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, said he has sent letters to every state asking for information on registered voters including names, birth dates and partial Social Security numbers, dating back to 2006. The commission hopes to root out fraud including non-citizens and dead people voting.

Republican Hosemann said his office has not receive a letter, but he was provided a copy from another secretary of state.

"As all of you may remember, I fought in federal court to protect Mississippi voters' rights for their privacy and won," Hosemann said. "In the event I were to receive correspondence from the commission requesting (what the other state received) ... My reply would be: They can go jump in the Gulf of Mexico and Mississippi is a great state to launch from."

Hosemann said the copy of the letter he received asked the state for full first and last names and middle initials of registered voters, addresses, dates of birth, political party, last four digits of Social Security numbers, voter history from 2006 on, information regarding any felony convictions, military status and other info.

Kobach told the Kansas City Star that he is requesting the information from all states and that it would be kept on a secure server by the federal government and not made public.

In 2014, the Texas-based organization True the Vote and some Mississippi residents sued the state, Hosemann and the state Republican Party seeking birth dates of Mississippi voters after Chris McDaniel's primary loss to incumbent U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran. The state claimed voter's birth dates were private. The lawsuit claimed they fall under federal voting laws on disclosure.

A specially appointed federal judge sided with the state and Hosemann.

"Mississippi residents should celebrate Independence Day and our state's right to protect the privacy of our citizens by conducting our own electoral processes," Hosemann said.