Biden issued the Executive Order on Promoting Access to Voting over the weekend to « promote and defend the right to vote for all Americans who are legally entitled to participate in elections. »
In the aftermath of the 2020 election, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are determined to advance agendas on voting. For one, Democrats are keen on thwarting a flood of legislation proposed in 43 states that increases barriers to the polls, including reducing early voting and limiting voting by mail. President Joe Biden is standing behind congressional Democrats’ goals to expand voting access, particularly for marginalized groups. A new executive order that Biden signed Sunday in recognition of the 56th anniversary of « Bloody Sunday, » when state troopers in Selma, Alabama, beat and tear-gassed peaceful civil rights marchers, amplifies existing Democratic efforts to protect voters. Biden issued the Executive Order on Promoting Access to Voting over the weekend to « promote and defend the right to vote for all Americans who are legally entitled to participate in elections. » This includes tackling discriminatory policies and other obstacles that adversely affect eligible voters in certain communities. The order comes after the House voted against an amendment to the H.R.1 For the People Act that would have restored voting rights to people with felony convictions, including those who currently are incarcerated. After the defeat of the H.R.1 amendment, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) claimed Biden’s executive order would fulfill the same goal. Greene said on Twitter that « Biden serves the radical squad and signs an executive order allowing felons to vote in jail. » While H.R.-1, Democrats’ landmark voting rights and campaign finance legislation, awaits a vote in the Senate, Biden signed a new order that his office said honors the legacy of Selma and the late Congressman John Lewis, a leader of the historic 1965 march. Despite the legendary efforts and accomplishments of early civil rights leaders, whose organizing resulted in measures such as the Voting Rights Act and desegregation, people of color, the elderly and other groups face significant hurdles to exercising their right to vote.
