As Donald Trump continues to fan the flames of election denialism, Representative Mike Lawler is heeding his calls to undermine democracy by restricting access to the ballot box. In a recent vote on a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations amendment, Lawler stood with MAGA Republicans to severely roll back President Biden’s executive order on promoting voting access. The executive order has been a top target of MAGA Republicans since its inception.
“Representative Lawler is not the moderate he pretends to be. He’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” said Let America Vote Spokesperson Bawadden Sayed. “Attacking a nonpartisan effort aimed at boosting voter participation is just the latest display of Lawler’s unwavering loyalty to Donald Trump. This vote does nothing to help families in the Lower Hudson Valley and everything to advance the extremist MAGA agenda.”
The amendment, deceptively inserted into critical DHS funding, is the latest assault on voting rights by MAGA Republicans. By supporting this measure, Representative Lawler sought to prohibit funding to be used to “implement, administer, or enforce” almost all aspects of Executive Order 14019.
This includes blocking funding from:
- Expanding Americans’ access to voter registration and election information
- This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring access to voter registration services and vote-by-mail ballot applications, promoting and expanding access to multilingual voter registration and election information, and providing relevant information to the public.
- Requiring federal agencies to assist states to help register voters under the National Voter Registration Act at a state’s request
- Modernizing Vote.gov
- Increasing opportunities for employees to vote
- Ensuring access to voter registration for eligible voters in federal custody
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