As the 2024 presidential election looms closer, GOP election officials are expressing growing concerns about what they perceive as federal interference in state and local election administration by President Biden. Secretaries of State Mac Warner of West Virginia and Michael Watson of Mississippi have particularly vocalized their apprehensions regarding the impact of Executive Order 14019, signed by Biden in March 2021, commonly referred to as “Bidenbucks.”
Under this executive order, federal agencies were directed to allocate taxpayer dollars toward boosting voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts. However, Warner and Watson, among others, have raised objections, pointing out that this directive infringes upon states’ constitutional authority to regulate their own elections, as outlined in Article 1 Section 4.
The concerns stem from the collaboration between federal agencies and what are termed “nonpartisan third-party organizations,” which have been approved by the Biden administration to conduct voter registration services on agency premises. Critics argue that many of these ostensibly nonpartisan groups lean heavily left, raising questions about the neutrality of the voter registration efforts they are involved in.
Moreover, there have been allegations of opacity and lack of transparency surrounding the implementation of Executive Order 14019. Federal agencies, including the Justice Department, have been accused of stonewalling requests for information related to the order’s execution, leading to suspicions about the true nature of these voter registration activities.
In response to these concerns, Secretaries of State such as Mac Warner and Michael Watson have taken proactive measures. Warner, for instance, has declared that his office will not accept voter registration forms collected by federal agents, citing the need to uphold state sovereignty in election matters. Watson has indicated a similar stance, aligning with Warner’s approach to resist what they view as federal overreach.
Several other Republican election officials from states like New Hampshire, Alabama, and Wyoming have also voiced their opposition to Executive Order 14019. They argue that the order represents an unlawful directive that encroaches on states’ rights and established election laws. These officials have committed to upholding state statutes and rejecting any voter registration forms collected by federal agents.
However, there are variations in responses among Republican officials. While some, like Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, are willing to accept voter registration forms collected by federal officials within the framework of state laws, others are more stringent in their opposition, echoing the sentiments of Secretaries Warner and Watson.
Despite the pushback from these GOP election officials, there are still many states whose officials have not yet taken a public stance on rejecting voter registration forms collected by federal agents. The issue remains a point of contention, with ongoing legal challenges and debates surrounding the constitutionality and implications of Executive Order 14019.
