Donald Trump’s dangerous foray into voter fraud

Full first and last names of all registrants, middle names or initials if available, addresses, dates of birth, political party, last four digits of Social Security number, voter history from 2006 onward, active/inactive status, canceled status, information regarding any felony convictions, information regarding voter registration in another state, information regarding military status, and overseas citizen information.

Requesting this information from states to feed Mr. Trump’s imagined “massive voter fraud” serves two purposes: First and most obvious is an utterly irrational effort for Mr. Trump to continue to stroke his own ego through one more in a long history of absurd statements. But a far more sinister intent is that of finding ways to intimidate voters.

This extreme and abhorrent overreach by the White House into the private lives of U.S. citizens will have dire consequences for our election process. Our democratic process is already suffering from copious amounts of voter apathy due to partisan control over our options. This will add an additional layer to the ailing election process, a layer of fear as well.

We simply cannot allow the federal government to begin encroaching upon our lives to this degree. The federal government, especially the office of the president, already wields far too much power. The only way we’re going to be able to begin to roll back this hideous overreach is by insisting that our state officials — Gov. Brian Sandoval and Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske — deny the requests of Trump’s committee.

Study after study has repeatedly shown that voter fraud is minuscule at best. To spend taxpayer money on such a ludicrous and laughable search truly is — using one of Mr. Trump’s own personal favorite cliches — a witch hunt.

Perhaps, instead of such wasteful efforts, the federal government should be applying those dollars to help fund health care.