Opposition to Restricting Funding for Executive Order Promoting Access to Voting

View a PDF of the letter here.

October 26, 2023

United States Senate

Washington, D.C. 20515

Re: Please oppose Amdt. Budd #1243 on Minibus #1, which represents an attack on the updates on access to voting.

Dear Senator,

On behalf of our millions of members and supporters the undersigned groups make the following vote recommendation to oppose amendment Budd #1243 to S. Amdt 1092 (Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies; Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies; and Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies) to H.R. 4366, the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies, Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations bill.

While not all undersigned organizations work directly on voting rights issues, we appreciate your consideration of this position.

VOTE NO

Amendment Budd #1243. This amendment seeks ‘to prohibit the use of funds to implement or enforce Executive Order 14019’, which represents an attack on updates on access to voting. President Biden’s Executive Order on Access to Voting is a critical effort to increase nonpartisan voter registration and participation among eligible Americans. This amendment would not only thwart common-sense, good government efforts to better serve voters of all stripes, but also frustrate the goals of the decades-old, bipartisan National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). Congress itself found that it is the duty of federal, state, and local governments to promote the exercise of the fundamental right to vote when it passed the NVRA 30 years ago. The amendment would undermine access to voting. It would prevent eligible voters from registering to vote when accessing services at federal agencies that serve millions of eligible persons, contrary to the goals of the bi-partisan NVRA. It would further limit access to language assistance, continue the barriers people with disabilities face to vote and maintain the challenges members of the military and other citizens living abroad to exercise their right to vote. It would do nothing to protect our election system and the integrity of the vote.

Again, we urge you to REJECT Budd #1243 in Minibus #1 and thank you for your consideration,

AFL-CIO
American Association of People with Disabilities
American Association of University Women (AAUW)
American Civil Liberties Union
American Federation of Teachers
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF)
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC
Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote)
Autism Society of America
Brennan Center for Justice
Campaign Legal Center
Cause Communications
Center for Common Ground
Center for Living & Working, Inc.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)
Clean Elections Texas
Climate Hawks Vote
Coalition on Human Needs
Common Cause
DC Vote
Declaration for American Democracy Coalition
DemCast USA
Democracy 21
Demos
Earthjustice
End Citizens United//Let America Vote Action Fund
Fair Elections Center
Fair Fight Action
Georgia Coalition for the Peoples Agenda
Government Information Watch
Greenpeace USA
Hip Hop Caucus
Human Rights Campaign
Impact Fund
Indivisible
Indivisible Santa Fe
Interfaith Power & Light
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
League of Conservation Voters
League of Women Voters of the United States
NAACPLDF
NASILC
National Action Network
National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities
National Center for Transgender Equality
National Community Action Partnership
National Council of Jewish Women
National Council on Independent Living
National Disability Rights Network (NDRN)
National Employment Law Project
National Low Income Housing Coalition
National Partnership for Women and Families
Native American Rights Fund
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
New Disabled South
New Jersey Association on Correction
NextGen America
People For the American Way
People Power United
Planned Parenthood Action Fund
Protect Democracy
Public Citizen
Public Justice Center
Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America)
RespectAbility
Secure Elections Network
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund
Stand Up America
The Arc US
The National Federation of the Blind
The Workers Circle
Transform Network
Union for Reform Judaism
Union of Concerned Scientists
Venice Resistance
Verified Voting
Voices for Progress
Voto Latino
Walking to FIX OUR DEMOCRACY