Kobach: ‘We may never know’ if Clinton won popular vote because of voter fraud
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach on Wednesday would not rule out the possibility that Hillary Clinton’s win of the popular vote was due to voter fraud, although there is no evidence of widespread fraud.
But he also suggested the votes that led President Donald Trump to win the Electoral College could be questioned.
During an interview on MSNBC, anchor Katy Tur asked Kobach whether he believed Clinton’s popular vote win was the result of voter fraud.
"We will probably never know the answer to that question because even if you can prove that a certain number of votes were cast by ineligible voters, for example, you wouldn’t know how they voted," Kobach said.
Later, Tur asked if the votes that led Trump to win the election were in doubt as well.
"Absolutely. If there are ineligible voters in an election, felons who shouldn’t be voting ...," Kobach said.
"So, is our Democratic process completely broken? Should we not be confident that when we cast a ballot that anyone we’re voting for is actually going to get elected?" Tur asked.
"That’s exactly the reason the commission exists," Kobach said, referring to Trump’s Commission on Election Integrity.
Clinton won the popular vote by nearly three million votes.
Trump has made unsubstantiated claims he would have won the popular vote if there had not been illegal votes. In November, Kobach said he agreed.
"I think the president-elect is absolutely correct when he says the number of illegal votes cast exceeds the popular vote margin between him and Hillary Clinton at this point," Kobach said immediately after he and other Kansas officials certified the state’s election results.
At the time, he referred to a study conducted by political scientists at Old Dominion University. The study has been has been rebutted by election scholars.
Jonathan Shorman: 785-296-3006, @jonshorman
This story was originally published July 19, 2017 at 5:04 PM with the headline "Kobach: ‘We may never know’ if Clinton won popular vote because of voter fraud."