President Biden will sign an executive order on Sunday to put federal resources into efforts to expand access to voting, the White House said.
The signing will mark the 56th anniversary of the “Bloody Sunday” march in Selma, Alabama, when hundreds of civil rights protesters clashed during violent encounters with white police on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The 1965 march became the impetus for the passage of the Voting Rights Act during President Lyndon Johnson’s administration.
The change also occurs when a series of state legislatures controlled by Republicans change local electoral laws after the 2020 presidential election.
“Today, on the anniversary of Bloody Sunday, I am signing an executive order to facilitate the registration of qualified voters and improve access to voting. Every eligible voter should be able to vote and have that vote counted, ”said the president to Martin and Coretta King Unity Breakfast, according to the White House, which released Biden’s comments.
“If you have the best ideas, you have nothing to hide. Let the people vote, ”he will say.
Biden’s order will leverage federal agencies to provide information on how to register to vote, distribute voter registration and voting registrations by mail, and direct the General Services Administration to modernize and improve the federal government’s Vote.gov website. .
He also calls on federal agencies to develop plans to give federal officials free time to vote and volunteer as election workers, as well as breaking down barriers to voting for members of the army, people with disabilities and Native Americans.
Biden will note that, after a record turnout in the November presidential election and baseless allegations of electoral fraud, “We saw an unprecedented insurrection in our Capitol and a brutal attack on our democracy on January 6. An effort never before seen to ignore, undermine and undo the will of the people. “
Since the election, 43 state legislatures have presented more than 250 bills that will make it difficult for Americans to vote, the White House argued.
“We cannot allow them to succeed,” said Biden at breakfast.
Many Democrats last week passed a broad-based voting rights bill that was passed along party lines – 220 to 210.
Now, he goes to the Senate, where Democrats hold a narrow majority.
The People’s Law would oblige states to offer ballots and registration online and on the same day.