Promoting Access to Voting
| Published date | 10 March 2021 |
| Citation | 86 FR 13623 |
| Record Number | 2021-05087 |
| Section | Presidential Documents |
| Court | Executive Office Of The President |
Presidential Documents
13623
Federal Register
Vol. 86, No. 45
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Title 3—
The President
Executive Order 14019 of March 7, 2021
Promoting Access to Voting
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the
laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Purpose. The right to vote is the foundation of American democ-
racy. Free and fair elections that reflect the will of the American people
must be protected and defended. But many Americans, especially people
of color, confront significant obstacles to exercising that fundamental right.
These obstacles include difficulties with voter registration, lack of election
information, and barriers to access at polling places. For generations, Black
voters and other voters of color have faced discriminatory policies and
other obstacles that disproportionally affect their communities. These voters
remain more likely to face long lines at the polls and are disproportionately
burdened by voter identification laws and limited opportunities to vote
by mail. Limited access to language assistance remains a barrier for many
voters. People with disabilities continue to face barriers to voting and are
denied legally required accommodations in exercising their fundamental
rights and the ability to vote privately and independently. Members of
our military serving overseas, as well as other American citizens living
abroad, also face challenges to exercising their fundamental right to vote.
The Constitution and laws of the United States prohibit racial discrimination
and protect the right to vote. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 and other
Federal statutes implement those protections and assign the Federal Govern-
ment a key role in remedying disenfranchisement and unequal access to
the polls. In passing the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, the Congress
found that it is the duty of Federal, State, and local governments to promote
the exercise of the fundamental right to vote. Executive departments and
agencies (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. 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.
Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of my Administration to promote and defend
the right to vote for all Americans who are legally entitled to participate
in elections. It is the responsibility of the Federal Government to expand
access to, and education about, voter registration and election information,
and to combat misinformation, in order to enable all eligible Americans
to participate in our democracy.
Sec. 3. Expanding Access to Voter Registration and Election Information.
Agencies shall consider ways to expand citizens’ opportunities to register
to vote and to obtain information about, and participate in, the electoral
process.
(a) The head of each agency shall evaluate ways in which the agency
can, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, promote voter reg-
istration and voter participation. This effort shall include consideration of:
(i) ways to provide relevant information in the course of activities or
services that directly engage with the public—including through agency
materials, websites, online forms, social media platforms, and other points
of public access—about how to register to vote, how to request a vote-
by-mail ballot, and how to cast a ballot in upcoming elections;
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(ii) ways to facilitate seamless transition from agencies’ websites directly
to State online voter registration systems or appropriate Federal websites,
such as Vote.gov;
(iii) ways to provide access to voter registration services and vote-by-
mail ballot applications in the course of activities or services that directly
engage with the public, including:
(A) distributing voter registration and vote-by-mail ballot application
forms, and providing access to applicable State online systems for individ-
uals who can take advantage of those systems;
(B) assisting applicants in completing voter registration and vote-by-
mail ballot application forms in a manner consistent with all relevant
State laws; and
(C) soliciting and facilitating approved, nonpartisan third-party organiza-
tions and State officials to provide voter registration services on agency
premises;
(iv) ways to promote and expand access to multilingual voter registration
and election information, and to promote equal participation in the elec-
toral process for all eligible citizens of all backgrounds; and
(v) whether, consistent with applicable law, any identity documents issued
by the agency to members of the public can be issued in a form that
satisfies State voter identification laws.
(b) Within 200 days of the date of this order, the head of each agency
shall submit to the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy a strategic
plan outlining the ways identified under this review that the agency can
promote voter registration and voter participation.
(c) The Administrator of the Office of Electronic Government, Office of
Management and Budget, shall, consistent with applicable law, coordinate
efforts across agencies to improve or modernize Federal websites and digital
services that provide election and voting information to the American people,
including ensuring that Federal websites are accessible to individuals with
disabilities and people with limited English proficiency. As appropriate,
the Administrator of the United States Digital Service may support agencies
in implementing the strategic plans directed in subsection (b) of this section.
Sec. 4. Acceptance of Designation Under the National Voter Registration
Act. (a) This order shall supersede section 3 of Executive Order 12926
of September 12, 1994 (Implementation of the National Voter Registration
Act of 1993).
(b) Each agency, if requested by a State to be designated as a voter
registration agency pursuant to section 7(a)(3)(B)(ii) of the National Voter
Registration Act, shall, to the greatest extent practicable and consistent with
applicable law, agree to such designation. If an agency declines to consent
to such designation, the head of the agency shall submit to the President
a written explanation for the decision.
(c) The head of each agency shall evaluate where and how the agency
provides services that directly engage with the public and, to the greatest
extent practicable, formally notify the States in which the agency provides
such services that it would agree to designation as a voter registration
agency pursuant to section 7(a)(3)(B)(ii) of the National Voter Registration
Act.
Sec. 5. Modernizing Vote.gov. The General Services Administration (GSA)
shall take steps to modernize and improve the user experience of Vote.gov.
In determining how to do so, GSA shall coordinate with the Election Assist-
ance Commission and other agencies as appropriate, and seek the input
of affected stakeholders, including election administrators, civil rights and
disability rights advocates, Tribal Nations, and nonprofit groups that study
best practices for using technology to promote civic engagement.
(a) GSA’s efforts to modernize and improve Vote.gov shall include:
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(i) ensuring that Vote.gov complies, at minimum, with sections 504 and
508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973;
(ii) ensuring that Vote.gov is translated into languages spoken by any
of the language groups covered under section 203 of the Voting Rights
Act anywhere in the United States; and
(iii) implementing relevant provisions of the 21st Century Integrated Digital
Experience Act (Public Law 115–336).
(b) Within 200 days of the date of this order, GSA shall submit to the
Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy a strategic plan outlining
the steps to modernize and improve the user experience of Vote.gov.
Sec. 6. Increasing Opportunities for Employees to Vote. It is a priority
of my Administration to ensure that the Federal Government, as the Nation’s
largest employer, serves as a model employer by encouraging and facilitating
Federal employees’ civic participation. Accordingly, the Director of the Office
of Personnel Management shall take the following actions within 200 days
of the date of this order:
(a) coordinate with the heads of executive agencies, as defined in 5 U.S.C.
105, to provide recommendations to the President, through the Assistant
to the President for Domestic Policy, on strategies to expand the Federal
Government’s policy of granting employees time off to vote in Federal,
State, local, Tribal, and territorial elections. Such recommendations should
include efforts to ensure Federal employees have opportunities to participate
in early voting.
(b) Coordinate with the heads of executive agencies, as defined in 5
U.S.C. 105, to provide recommendations to the President, through the Assist-
ant to the President for Domestic Policy, on strategies to better support
Federal employees who wish to volunteer to serve as non-partisan poll
workers or non-partisan observers, particularly during early or extended
voting periods.
Sec. 7. Ensuring Equal Access for Voters with Disabilities. Within 270 days
of the date of this order, the National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST) within the Department of Commerce shall evaluate the steps needed
to ensure that the online Federal Voter Registration Form is accessible to
people with disabilities. During that period, NIST, in consultation with
the Department of Justice, the Election Assistance Commission, and other
agencies, as appropriate, shall also analyze barriers to private and inde-
pendent voting for people with disabilities, including access to voter registra-
tion, voting technology, voting by mail, polling locations, and poll worker
training. By the end of the 270-day period, NIST shall publish recommenda-
tions regarding both the Federal Voter Registration Form and the other
barriers it has identified.
Sec. 8. Ensuring Access to Voting for Active Duty Military and Overseas
Citizens. (a) Within 200 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of
Defense shall establish procedures, consistent with applicable law, to affirma-
tively offer, on an annual basis, each member of the Armed Forces on
active duty the opportunity to register to vote in Federal elections, update
voter registration information, or request an absentee ballot.
(b) Within 200 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Defense
shall evaluate the feasibility of implementing an online system to facilitate
the services described in subsection (a) of this section.
(c) The Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Department of
State, the Military Postal Service Agency, and the United States Postal
Service, shall take all practical steps to establish procedures to enable a
comprehensive end-to-end ballot tracking system for all absentee ballots
cast by military and other eligible overseas voters under the Uniformed
and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, 52 U.S.C. 20301 et seq. Within
200 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Defense shall submit
a report to the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy with a strategic
plan for establishing the aforementioned tracking system.
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(d) The head of each agency with overseas employees shall designate
an employee to be responsible for coordinating with the Federal Voting
Assistance Program, including to promote voter registration and voting serv-
ices available to the agency’s overseas employees. The Director of the Office
of Management and Budget may issue guidance to assist agencies in making
such designations.
Sec. 9. Ensuring Access to Voter Registration for Eligible Individuals in
Federal Custody. (a) The Attorney General shall establish procedures, con-
sistent with applicable law, to provide educational materials related to voter
registration and voting and, to the extent practicable, to facilitate voter
registration, for all eligible individuals in the custody of the Federal Bureau
of Prisons. Such educational materials shall be incorporated into the reentry
planning procedures required under section 4042(a)(7) of title 18, United
States Code. The educational materials should also notify individuals leaving
Federal custody of the restrictions, if any, on their ability to vote under
the laws of the State where the individual resides and, if any such restrictions
exist, the point at which the individual’s rights will be restored under
applicable State law.
(b) The Attorney General shall establish procedures, consistent with appli-
cable law, to ensure the United States Marshals Service includes language
in intergovernmental agreements and jail contracts to require the jails to
provide educational materials related to voter registration and voting, and
to facilitate voting by mail, to the extent practicable and appropriate.
(c) The Attorney General shall establish procedures, consistent with appli-
cable law, for coordinating with the Probation and Pretrial Services Office
of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts to provide edu-
cational materials related to voter registration and voting to all eligible
individuals under the supervision of the Probation and Pretrial Services
Office, and to facilitate voter registration and voting by such individuals.
(d) The Attorney General shall take appropriate steps, consistent with
applicable law, to support formerly incarcerated individuals in obtaining
a means of identification that satisfies State voter identification laws, includ-
ing as required by 18 U.S.C. 4042(a)(6)(B).
Sec. 10. Establishing a Native American Voting Rights Steering Group. (a)
There is hereby established an Interagency Steering Group on Native Amer-
ican Voting Rights (Steering Group) coordinated by the Domestic Policy
Council.
(b) The Steering Group shall be chaired by the Assistant to the President
for Domestic Policy and shall include the Attorney General, the Secretary
of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Labor, the
Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs or their designees. The Chair may invite the participation of the
heads or senior representatives of other agencies, as the Chair determines
to be helpful to complete the work of the Steering Group. The Steering
Group shall consult with agencies not represented on the Steering Group
to facilitate the sharing of information and best practices, as appropriate
and consistent with applicable law.
(c) The Steering Group shall engage in meaningful and robust consultation
with Tribal Nations and Native leaders to inform the Steering Group regarding
concerns and potential areas of focus for the report described in subsection
(d) of this section, and to assist the Steering Group in developing that
report.
(d) The Steering Group shall study best practices for protecting voting
rights of Native Americans and shall produce a report within 1 year of
the date of this order outlining recommendations for providing such protec-
tion, consistent with applicable law, including recommendations for:
(i) increasing voter outreach, education, registration, and turnout in Native
American communities; increasing voting access for Native American com-
munities (including increasing accessibility for voters with disabilities);
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and mitigating internet accessibility issues that may hinder voter registra-
tion and ballot access in Native American communities;
(ii) increasing language access and assistance for Native American voters,
including evaluating existing best practices;
(iii) mitigating barriers to voting for Native Americans by analyzing and
providing guidance on how to facilitate the use of Tribal government
identification cards as valid voter identification in Federal, State, local,
Tribal, and territorial elections;
(iv) facilitating collaboration among local election officials, Native Amer-
ican communities, and Tribal election offices; and
(v) addressing other areas identified during the consultation process.
(e) The Department of the Interior shall provide administrative support
for the Steering Group to the extent permitted by law.
Sec. 11. Definition. Except as otherwise defined in section 6 of this order,
‘‘agency’’ means any authority of the United States that is an ‘‘agency’’
under 44 U.S.C. 3502(1), other than those considered to be independent
regulatory agencies, as defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(5).
Sec. 12. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed
to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency,
or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and
subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit,
substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party
against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers,
employees, or agents, or any other person.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
March 7, 2021.
[FR Doc. 2021–05087
Filed 3–9–21; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3295–F1–P
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