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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Politics
Mythili Sampathkumar

Donald Trump to launch official investigation into voter fraud after claiming it cost him popular vote

Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order to create a commission to investigate voter fraud and voter suppression, which he felt cost him to lose the popular vote to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. 

The Presidential Commission on Election Integrity will likely be led by Vice President Mike Pence and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.

ABC News reports that the commission will be bipartisan and tasked with looking into the "vulnerabilities" of electronic and manual voting systems as well as potential fraud.

After the election win, Mr Trump claimed that Ms Clinton won three million more votes than him due to illegal voter registrations. He won the electoral college vote, which gave him the presidency. 

There is no evidence to support his claim regarding fraud.

No draft text of the of the order has been released as yet, but White House officials said that Democrats may be tempted to join the commission because it will also be looking into voter suppression. 

Voting rights advocates have said that minorities and lower-income Americans face barriers to voting. 

Membership in the commission is still forming but so far the Secretaries of State of Indiana, New Hampshire, Maine, and a former official in the state of Ohio are set to join. Mr Trump won Ohio and Indiana in the election but Maine and New Hampshire went to Ms Clinton by a fairly large margin. 

The commission is expected to produce its first report sometime next year. 

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