Biden to sign executive order to increase access to voting

President BidenJoe Biden Senate holds longest vote in history as Democrats scramble to save rescue bill Trump’s ex-elect arrested in Capitol riot complains he can’t sleep in jail Biden helps to negotiate an agreement with the Senate on unemployment benefits PLUS On Sunday, will sign an executive order leveraging federal resources to protect and strengthen access to the ballot as Republican legislatures across the country seek to restrict voting rights in the wake of the 2020 election.

Biden will sign an order that will direct agencies to improve access to voter registration materials and reduce barriers to voting for certain groups, including military and foreign voters, Native Americans, people with disabilities and Native Americans.

The President will also speak Sunday at the Martin and Coretta King Unity Breakfast to focus on voting rights. The order and the speech come on the 56th anniversary of the “Bloody Sunday” march in Selma, Ala. The violent clash between 600 civil rights protesters and white police on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965 served as a catalyst for the vote. Rights Act.

“Every eligible voter should be able to vote and have them count,” Biden will say over breakfast, according to prepared remarks. “If you have the best ideas – you have nothing to hide. Let more people vote.”

Administration officials have signaled that the executive order was intended to be a direct response to the violent insurgency on Capitol Hill on January 6, sparked by weeks of false statements by former President Trump and his allies about the fraud in the 2020 election, as well as subsequent efforts by state legislatures to cancel voting rights.

Biden’s executive order will prompt federal agencies to use their websites and social media platforms to share voter registration information and distribute mail-in voting apps as part of regular services.

The order also aims to modernize Vote.gov, an official voter registration site operated by the federal government, to improve accessibility and improve the user experience.

The rest of the order focuses on strengthening voter access to specific groups more likely to encounter barriers to voting. For example, the ordinance will direct the attorney general to establish protocols to provide educational material on voting for eligible persons who are detained under the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

The order will also establish a steering group on Native American voting rights.

“The president uses his voice, his authority to make it clear his point of view that people should choose by voting what they want and should be able to vote on the best ideas, and that it is undemocratic to discourage l ‘access to the vote,’ he added. said an administration official.

The steps Biden is taking to improve access to the vote will not replace state laws, as elections are administered by state and local authorities. Republican states in particular moved quickly to restrict access to the ballot box after the 2020 election which saw a record turnout and an increase in postal voting amid the pandemic.

Overall, more than 250 bills have been introduced in 43 states that would restrict access to the ballot box. Georgia and Arizona have seen lawmakers pass initiatives to limit absences and early voting.

Congressional Democrats have taken steps to pass sweeping reforms to strengthen voting rights, though the path to passage remains unclear.

The House passed the For The People Act last week, which would require states to offer postal ballots, a minimum of 15 days of early voting and calls for online and same-day voter registration. The legislation also calls for the creation of independent commissions to draw congressional districts in an effort to end partisan gerrymandering.

Republicans were united against the bill, which would require at least 10 GOP votes in the Senate if every Democrat in the upper house votes in favor. Biden called for passage of the bill.