WASHINGTON — As President Donald Trump’s voter integrity commission looks under rocks for possible voter malfeasance, its members might want to examine a presidential nominee awaiting confirmation by the Senate Finance Committee.
Documents indicate that Jeffrey Gerrish, the president’s pick to be a deputy United States Trade Representative, moved from Virginia to Maryland last year, but opted in November to vote in the more competitive state of Virginia than his bright blue new home.
The Senate Finance Committee, which has been considering Gerrish’s nomination, was briefed on the matter Tuesday, including the fact that Gerrish had almost certainly voted illegally, according to three Democratic congressional aides familiar with the briefing. Public records back up that notion.
Given Trump’s intense focus on alleged widespread voter fraud in last year’s election — the president has claimed that millions of people voted illegally, without evidence — Democrats are likely to pounce on the misstep to try to sink Gerrish’s nomination.
Julia Lawless, a spokeswoman for the committee’s chairman, Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, said she could not comment on Gerrish’s voting history, but that the committee would continue to examine his record.
“Mr. Gerrish is continuing to undergo the same bipartisan vetting process that every nominee before the Senate Finance Committee does,” Lawless said. “Given that this process is still underway, we are unable to discuss specific details in his file.”
Gerrish could not immediately be reached for comment.
It is a misdemeanor in Virginia to vote if you are not a resident of the state. The commonwealth does carve out a grace period for residents who move out of the state within 30 days of a presidential election, allowing them to vote in their old precinct only in the contest for president.
Gerrish’s move does not appear to have fallen in that grace period. Records show that he sold a Fairfax, Virginia, home in July 2016 and purchased a home in Montgomery County, Maryland, just across the state line, the same month. Gerrish did not register to vote in Maryland until February of this year, according to state records.
Trump created the White House panel, officially called the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, to investigate cases of voter fraud across the country. The commission has proved to be a lightning rod for controversy. Its critics argue that the body is merely a disguised effort by Republicans to make it harder to register and vote.
Studies consistently show that illegal voting is extremely rare.
Trump nominated Gerrish to be deputy U.S. Trade Representative for Asia, Europe, the Middle East & Industrial Competitiveness in June. He worked alongside Robert Lighthizer, who has been the U.S. Trade Representative since May, at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, a prominent New York-based law firm.
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