BY: DARRELL EHRLICK
Nine states, including Kansas, are challenging an executive order by President Joe Biden that would enlist federal agencies to help register residents to vote, and those states say the order undermines their power to control elections, calling it a federally subsidized program aimed at boosting Democratic and left-leaning blocs.
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach and Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen filed the federal lawsuit in court in Wichita. The nine states are Montana, Kansas, Iowa, South Dakota, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Carolina.
The heart of the lawsuit is Executive Order 14019, which was issued on March 10, 2021, and directs federal agencies to “consider ways to expand citizens’ opportunities to register to vote and to obtain information about, and participate in, the electoral process.”
The states challenging the executive order say that Biden converts various federal agencies, turning them in part into “a voter registration organization” illegally. The attorneys general say that elections, including voter registration, are solely the province of states, guaranteed by the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Moreover, the states said that it’s an example of the federal government trying to usurp the sovereignty of the states, and giving the states no other choice than to resort to federal court. The lawsuit said the states were never invited into the process, never allowed to comment, and they accuse the Biden administration of hiding the plans.
“In response to requests under the Freedom of Information Act, the Biden-Harris Administration has asserted the plans are subject to privilege and may be withheld from public scrutiny,” the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit lists a number of federal agencies as defendants, including the U.S. Treasury, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of The Interior, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the U.S. Department of Education.
The lawsuit also claims that the National Voter Registration Act means that federal agencies cannot stand in the way of citizens voting, but it also said that voter registration activity is left to the states, and Biden’s order oversteps its authority.
The 41-page lawsuit outlines a number of ways the executive order commands the federal agencies to help bolster the efforts to register voters, for example:
- The lawsuit accuses the Department of Justice of providing information to those who remain eligible to vote while in federal custody, as well as preparing prisoners about voting laws and rights before reentry.
- It says that the Department of the Interior will disseminate information about registering and voting at schools operated by the Bureau of Indian Education and tribal colleges and universities.
- The order also encourages the Department of Agriculture to provide nonpartisan voter information through its borrowers and lenders about registration and voting.
- Designating 2,400 American Job Centers, which provide employment guidance, training and career services, to become voter registration agencies under the National Voter Registration Act.
- Allowing public housing community areas space for certain election-related activities, including voter registration or voter drop boxes for early voting.
- The lawsuit said that the order allows the Department of Education to allow federal work study funds to “support voter registration” activities.
“There is little detail about how agencies determine whether a third-party organization is ‘approved,’ ‘non-partisan,’ or what third-party organizations an agency can work with to promote voter registration,” the lawsuit said. “A rule that permits federal agencies to engage in voter registration activities trenches on States’ constitutionally protected sovereign rights.”
From a practical standpoint, the states claim that the federal government’s executive order doesn’t just exceed the constitution, but could threaten efforts in the individual states.
“The vast resources of the federal government render it unique among all possible entities engaged in voter registration. Because of the resources it can bring to bear, the federal government can engage in voter registration activities on a scale that will, as a practical matter, swamp any state’s attempt to regulate the government’s actions,” the lawsuit said.
Knudsen, Montana’s Attorney General, echoed that sentiment when he announced the lawsuit from Helena on Tuesday.
“Fair elections are an essential part of our country’s republic. Congress gave the states the power to oversee elections years ago,” Knudsen said. “I will not stand by while the Biden-Harris administration attempts to shamelessly garner votes by employing its own agencies to register voters and disregard states’ own voter registration systems, putting the integrity of our elections at risk.”
The states also said that encouraging a variety of different agencies without proper training put the elections at risk of fraud.
“They failed to consider the risk of fraud or to implement actions to prevent fraud, which threatens the integrity of state administration of elections,” the states said. “This includes, at a minimum, ensuring that illegal aliens do not register to vote through the plans the agency defendants put in place.”
It is already against federal law for noncitizens to vote in elections.
The states conclude the lawsuit by saying that the plans in the executive order weren’t motivated to help resident register to vote, rather they are part of a Democrat plan.
“(The executive order) was motivated by a partisan desire to unfairly increase the Democrat vote as shown by the fact that the order came from left-wing, progressive groups,” the lawsuit claims. “The purpose is to promote left-wing politicians and policies at elections.”
This story was produced by Daily Montanan, a States Newsroom affiliate.