N.J. needs to oppose Trump's voter fraud witch hunt | Editorial

In May, President Donald Trump created what he is calling the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, with Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach as its head.

From one end the country to the other, states both blue and red have emphatically resisted a request from the White House to turn over voter data - including such invasive information as the last four digits of voters' Social Security numbers, their military status, their birth dates and their party affiliations.

New Jersey came late to the party, and its response, once it was announced this week, was far from forceful.

"To date, no information has been released nor will any future information be released that is not publicly available or does not follow the appropriate legal process for information requests," Robert Giles, director of the Division of Elections, said in a statement Wednesday, days after more than 40 other states had weighed in.

We are relieved, of course, that our officials are not rushing to comply with this chilling and unprecedented request, which is nothing more than a poorly disguised ploy to justify Donald Trump's unhinged assertion that millions of votes were improperly cast in the last presidential election.

N.J. just gave Trump's voter fraud inquiry a surprising answer

But compare Giles' plain-vanilla statement to those of officials from other states who could barely contain their wrath at the invasive request:

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo: "New York refuses to perpetuate the myth voter fraud played a role in our election. We will not be complying with this request and I encourage the Election Commission to work on issues of vital importance to voters, including ballot access, rather than focus on debunked theories of voter fraud."

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla: "I will not provide sensitive voter information to a commission that has already inaccurately passed judgment that millions of Californians voted illegally. California's participation would only serve to legitimize the false and already debunked claims."

Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann: "They can go jump in the Gulf of Mexico."

The Garden State remained silent for more than a week after Trump's Advisory Commission on Election Integrity sent letters to all 50 states seeking voting data - a move many see as a harbinger for purging voter rolls in upcoming elections.

Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, who is also secretary of state, all too conveniently recused herself from the fray, citing the fact that she herself is running for office in November's gubernatorial election.

A spokeswoman for Guadagno's office further diluted Giles' announcement, saying a final, formal statement would be forthcoming by the July 14 deadline  set by the commission.

In the end, we suspect, New Jersey will remain on the right side of history, throwing its lot in with the vast majority of states who refuse to bow to a silly, time-consuming and privacy-invading request.

But wouldn't it have been more appropriate, during this Independence Week, if leaders from one of the original 13 colonies had spoken out more energetically about the dangers of tyranny from above?