Three statewide elected officials in Mississippi are challenging a voter registration order issued by President Joe Biden.
Governor Tate Reeves, Attorney General Lynn Fitch, and Secretary of State Michael Watson — all members of the Republican Party — filed a complaint on behalf of the state challenging Biden’s Executive Order 14019, which they say is an illegal voter registration effort by federal agencies led by the White House.
The order, which was issued in 2021, essentially called on federal agencies to come up with a plan that would promote voter registration, particularly in communities deemed to be marginalized, and incentivize new voters to participate in elections. Another goal of the order was for the federal government to partner with states and other groups to push for ways to make voting easier.
President Joe Biden (Photo courtesy of the White House)
“Executive departments and agencies should partner with State, local, Tribal, and territorial election officials to protect and promote the exercise of the right to vote, eliminate discrimination and other barriers to voting, and expand access to voter registration and accurate election information,” a portion of the order reads. “It is our duty to ensure that registering to vote and the act of voting be made simple and easy for all those eligible to do so.”
The trio of Mississippi GOP officials, all of whom are also members of the State Board of Election Commissioners, argue that the intentions of the order may not be as pure as advertised. The elected leaders insinuated that the agencies were working in lockstep with the Oval Office to register new voters to cast ballots for solely Democrats in elections.
According to the complaint, efforts by watchdog organizations and others to obtain copies of federal agencies’ plans to encourage voter registration were stonewalled. Watson, who filed Freedom of Information Act requests with several federal agencies, was reportedly told on a call between Secretaries of State and the White House that those plans were never intended to be public.
Governor Tate Reeves Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves (Photo by SuperTalk Mississippi News)
“This executive order is a prime
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