Politics

Biden Admin Press-Gangs Federal Agencies Into Mass Voter Registration Campaign

Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dennis McDonough look on as President Joe Biden delivers remarks prior to signing a bipartisan Veterans bill Tuesday, November 30, 2021, in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

The Biden administration announced plans to leverage federal agencies in a campaign to boost voter registration Tuesday.

The voter-registration effort, announced during a roundtable by Vice President Kamala Harris, includes signage promoting Vote.gov at over a thousand Social Security Administration (SSA) offices and national parks, and having the Department of Health and Human Services email voter registration information to people who acquire health insurance through the exchanges set up under the Affordable Care Act. The Biden administration also announced that it held over 100 events to train jurisdictions in how to protect election workers.

The push for voter registration comes as President Joe Biden faces a difficult reelection campaign, with former President Donald Trump currently leading Biden by 2.1 percentage points in the RealClearPolitics average of general election polls for a head-to-head matchup. Trump’s lead in the average increases to 3 points when Green Party candidate Jill Stein and independent candidates Cornel West and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are included.

Trump also holds leads Biden in crucial swing states, with a 4.7-point margin in Arizona, an 8.4-point lead in Nevada, a 1.2-point edge in Wisconsin, a 5.1-point lead in Michigan and a 6.8-point lead in Georgia, according to RealClearPolling averages. Biden holds a 0.6-point lead in an average of polls in Pennsylvania, RealClearPolling reports.

The Biden administration also plans to ask groups that advocate for voting rights to push voter registration on three dates: The Juneteeth federal holiday, the Aug. 6 anniversary of the passage of the Voting Rights Act and National Voter Registration Day, which falls on Sept. 24. The Biden administration also said it has provided voter registration information in more than a dozen languages, including Chinese, Arabic and Navajo, Axios reported.

Democrats have demanded Republicans pass legislation to strengthen the Voting Rights Act after court rulings have narrowed its application, but Republicans have resisted those efforts.