US President Joe Biden speaks at a bilingual meeting on cancer legislation at the Oval Office in the White House in Washington, March 3, 2021.
Alex Brandon | Swimming Pool | Reuters
President Joe Biden on Sunday signed an executive order aimed at ensuring that all Americans have the right to vote by increasing access to registration services and voter information.
Biden also called on Congress to restore the Voting Rights Act, signed in 1965, after a violent protest in Selma, Alabama, which injured some participants.
The late Representative John Lewis, D-Ga., Who was one of the activists leading the march, sustained a broken skull. Lewis passed away last year.
Biden’s executive order coincides with the 56de commemoration of that demonstration, known as Bloody Sunday.
“Today, on the occasion of Bloody Sunday, I signed an executive order to make it easier for voters to register and improve access to votes,” Biden said in prepared remarks.
“Every voter should be able to vote and let the vote count. If you have the best ideas, you have nothing to hide. Let the people vote.”
According to the White House, Biden’s executive order is a ‘first step’. The president plans to work with Congress to restore the Voting Rights Act, which has eliminated discriminatory practices such as requiring literacy tests to vote.
“I also call on Congress to fully restore the Voting Rights Act, named in honor of John Lewis,” Biden said.
In 2013, the Supreme Court annulled a central plan that required 9 states with a history of discrimination, mostly in the South, to obtain federal approval to change their electoral laws.
Rep. John Lewis in Selma, Alabama., On February 14, 2015.
Bill Clark | CQ call | Getty Images
Biden also plans to work with lawmakers to pass the For For People Act passed by the House last week, which includes additional reforms to make voting rights “fair and accessible”.
“This is an important piece of legislation that is urgently needed to protect the right to vote, to protect the integrity of our election, and to restore and strengthen our democracy,” Biden said.
Biden’s executive order aims to take initial steps to make the polls more accessible to blacks and other minority voters, including Native Americans and people with disabilities.
It also calls for initiatives to improve federal workers, military active military and other voters abroad and Americans in federal prison access to votes.
The executive order requires federal agencies to increase voters’ access to registration and election information online, as well as through more frequent distribution of votes by mail and registration of candidates.
The executive order also calls on federal agencies to better coordinate with state governments over voter registration, as well as updating the Vote.gov website.