Attorney General Alan Wilson challenges Biden-Harris administration’s unlawful voter registration scheme
COLUMBIA - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has joined a coalition of nine attorneys general in challenging the Biden-Harris administration’s unlawful voter registration scheme that turns federal agencies into voter registration organizations and puts the integrity of the country’s elections at risk.
Executive Order 14019, written by left-wing advocacy groups and signed by President Biden in 2021, unlawfully directs federal agencies and departments to use money given to them by Congress to conduct voter registration activities. The federal government has limited authority to regulate voter registration as that is a power granted primarily to the states by Congress and the United States Constitution.
“I swore to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law, and this order from the Biden-Harris administration violates both,” Attorney General Wilson said. “Federal agencies cannot take money that Congress allocated and use it for improper purposes, and the Constitution primarily gives the states the authority to regulate voter registration.”
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas, asks the court to declare the executive order unconstitutional and unlawful and enjoin all agencies from implementing the order.
For example, the U.S. Department of Justice is registering imprisoned felons to vote—but there was never notice-and-comment on that policy to allow the public to weigh in on whether that is right. In many states, it is illegal for felons to vote. The Department of the Treasury also said it would implement EO 14019 by including “information about registration and voter participation in its direct deposit campaigns for Americans who receive Social Security, Veterans Affairs, and other federal benefit payments.”
EO 14019 exceeds any authority executive entities have under federal law, violates the Constitution, threatens states’ attempt to regulate voter registration, and undermines the voter registration systems set up by the states that will impact federal, state, and local elections.
In addition to Attorney General Wilson, attorneys general from Iowa, South Dakota, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Oklahoma also joined the lawsuit led by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen and Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach.
9 GOP attorneys general sue Biden administration over voter registration efforts
BY: DARRELL EHRLICK - AUGUST 16, 2024 6:00 AM
Attorneys general in nine states, including South Carolina, are challenging an executive order by President Joe Biden that would enlist federal agencies to help register residents to vote, arguing the order undermines their power to control elections. They call 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, Kansas. The nine states are Montana, Kansas, Iowa, South Dakota, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Carolina.
“Federal agencies cannot take money that Congress allocated and use it for improper purposes, and the Constitution primarily gives the states the authority to regulate voter registration,” South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said in a statement announcing he joined the lawsuit.
The heart of the lawsuit is Executive Order 14019, which was issued on March 10, 2021.
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, 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.
A release from Wilson gives the Department of Justice as an example, saying it’s registering people in federal prisons despite it being illegal in many states for felons to vote.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has said the agency is promoting voting access for people in federal custody who are still eligible to vote.
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 suit outlines a number of ways the executive order commands the federal agencies to help bolster the efforts to register voters, for example:
• The suit 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 non-citizens to vote in elections.
The states conclude the lawsuit by saying that the plans in the executive order weren’t motivated to help residents 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 suit claims. “The purpose is to promote left-wing politicians and policies at elections.”
Like the SC Daily Gazette, Daily Montanan is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Daily Montanan maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Darrell Ehrlick for questions: info@dailymontanan.com. Follow Daily Montanan on Facebook and X.
Darrell Ehrlick is the editor-in-chief of the Daily Montanan, after leading his native state’s largest paper, The Billings Gazette. He is an award-winning journalist, author, historian and teacher, whose career has taken him to North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Utah, and Wyoming. Daily Montanan is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
