Published on August 23, 2024, 12:37 am

In a move that has elicited both praise and criticism, the Democratic Party’s platform highly lauds President Joe Biden’s extensive executive directive aimed at increasing voter turnout—an action critics have dubbed “Bidenbucks”. Through this initiative, which is officially known as Executive Order 14019, federal resources are harnessed to boost the registration of voters and ensure their participation in electoral processes. Notably, multiple left-leaning non-profit organizations have played key roles in facilitating the implementation of this order.

A significant step taken early in his administration, President Biden enacted this comprehensive approach to facilitate voting access within the first 100 days of his term. The party’s platform, unanimously ratified by delegates to the Democratic National Convention held in Chicago, further affirmed this undertaking: “Agencies have taken historic action to help veterans, college students, Native Americans, and other underserved communities register to vote.”

However, critics argue that this course been charted by the Democrats will ultimately undermine election security. Ken Cuccinelli, who formerly served as Virginia Attorney General and currently heads the Election Transparency Initiative (focused on promoting honesty in elections), reflected these concerns.

Meanwhile, some critics contend that the phrase “underserved communities”, often used by Democrats could be a coded reference to potential constituents who align with Democratic ideologies. Cleta Mitchell—who chairs the Election Integrity Network and specializes in election law—validates such suspicions. She maintains that it is inappropriate for a governmental branch to single out specific demographics to encourage voting as it might perpetuate political power disparities.

Amongst those partnerships formed with left-leaning groups enlisted by the Biden-Harris administration were noteworthy collaborators like American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Demos—the League of Women Voters—the Brennan Center for Justice—and Fair Fight Action—all acting jointly towards implementing EO 14019. In fact—Demos—a liberal think tank—has been instrumental in formulating Biden’s directive converting federal agencies into voter registration bodies.

Additionally, Biden’s order has faced legal challenges—with nine Republican attorneys general contesting its constitutional and legal legitimacy last week. This coincides with an ongoing lawsuit by Pennsylvania state legislators challenging the legality of Biden’s action.

Amid ongoing legal battles—the Justice Department deployed presidential privilege to prevent the exposure of individual agency strategies regarding the executive order enactment. Additionally, a considerable number of key figures from the Biden-Harris administration—including 15 Cabinet officials—have yet to comply with subsequent subpoenas from the House Administration Committee.

Withstanding these objections, the Democratic Party aims to pass two significant pieces of legislation: The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act. Despite failing to materialize in Congress in 2021, these bills are propositions that represent attempts to override state laws mandating voter ID stipulations and advocating for purging ineligible names off voter registration lists.

The drive towards federalizing elections aligns this initiative with various left-wing advocacy groups’ objectives—a situation critics like Mitchell view with apprehension. As such, fresh debates about voter turnout methods continue to rage as experts scrutinize each step taken while maintaining a broader lens on preserving democratic transparency—a core principle underpinning a trusted news culture.