Trump fires last members of election commission, inciting fears of midterm ‘chaos’ | Donald Trump

Donald Trump has fired the remaining members of the independent federal commission that assists election administration officials across the country just months before the midterm elections, multiple news outlets reported Thursday.

The remaining three commissioners of the four-member, bipartisan commission were dismissed in separate ways on Thursday. The Republican appointee resigned, and two other Democratic appointees were notified of their firings via email from the White House presidential personnel office.

“On behalf of President Donald J Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as Commissioner of the Electoral Assistance Commission has been terminated, effective immediately. Thank you for your service,” the email seen by Reuters said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Election Assistance Commission serves as a “national information center on election administration,” accrediting testing laboratories and certifying voting systems and maintaining the national voter-by-mail registration form developed by the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, according to the commission’s website. The terminations follow Trump and senior administration officials’ advocacy to change mail-in voting requirements and investigations into the 2020 election results, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

“It is irresponsible and dangerous for this administration to continue to cause chaos for our election officials in this country,” Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said in a statement Thursday. “This move undermines the integrity of nonpartisan election administration.”

The 2002 law that established the commission, the Help America Vote Act, states that the president can appoint new people to the commission.

It’s unclear how Trump will proceed with the commission.

Reuters contributed reporting