President Biden will sign an executive order Sunday to put federal resources behind efforts to expand access to the vote, the White House said.
The signing will mark the 56th anniversary of the “Bloody Sunday” march in Selma, Alabama, when hundreds of civil rights activists clashed during violent encounters with white police officers at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The 1965 march became the impetus for the passage of the Voting Rights Act during the administration of President Lyndon Johnson.
The move also comes as several Republican-controlled state legislatures decide to change local voting laws after the 2020 presidential election.
“Today, on the anniversary of Bloody Sunday, I sign an executive order to make it easier for eligible voters to register to vote and improve access to voting. All eligible voters should be able to vote and count that vote, “Unity King Martin and Coretta said at the breakfast, according to the White House, which released Biden’s statements.
“If you have the best ideas, you have nothing to hide. Let the people vote, ”he will say.
The Biden order will allow federal agencies to provide information on how to register to vote, distribute voter registration and email applications, and direct the General Services Administration to modernize and improve the website. Vote.gov from the federal government.
It also calls on federal agencies to develop plans to give federal employees free time to vote and volunteer as poll workers, in addition to breaking down barriers to voting for the military, people with disabilities, and Native Americans.
Biden will note that as a result of record turnout in the November presidential election and baseless allegations of electoral fraud, “we have seen an unprecedented insurgency in our Capitol and a brutal attack on our democracy on January 6. An effort never seen to ignore, undermine and undo the will of the people “.
Since the election, 43 state legislatures have introduced more than 250 bills that will make it harder for Americans to vote, the White House argued.
“We can’t let them succeed,” Biden will say at breakfast.
Last week, Democrats passed a broad bill on voting rights that was passed along party lines: 220 to 210
Now I don’t go to the Senate, where Democrats have a narrow majority.
The People Act would require states to offer e-mail and online registration on the same day.