President Biden can move faster to expand voting access. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

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On this day in 1965, state troopers attacked John Lewis and more than 600 civil rights activists at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. “Bloody Sunday” provoked national outrage that led to the passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act.

Over the past 58 years, it has become de rigueur for many presidents and candidates to make a pilgrimage to Selma to remind the nation of unfinished work. President Biden went there this past weekend and declared that the fundamental right to vote “remains under assault.” In fact, with the Supreme Court poised to wreak further mayhem in June, this could be the last commemoration of Bloody Sunday with even a semblance of a meaningful Voting Rights Act.

Critically, the president again called for national legislation, even if it requires changing Senate rules on the filibuster. The Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would set national standards, ban gerrymandering, and restore strong civil rights protections. These bills must remain a national priority. Recall that voting rights failed in 1957, 1960, and 1964 before Lewis’s sacrifice brought them into being in 1965.

This use of the presidential bully pulpit is in the highest tradition. Plainly, Biden cares deeply. But there is more he can do without Congress.

In 2021, Biden signed an executive order on Bloody Sunday that directed federal agencies to pull all the levers within their reach to make it easier for citizens to register and vote. U.S. election participation is poor compared to our peer nations. Nearly 63 percent of Americans of voting age cast a ballot in the 2020 presidential election, a recent high for our country but still far behind others such as Sweden (80 percent), Belgium (78 percent), and Australia (76 percent). The 2021 executive order could inch us toward where we should be.

But here is where Biden’s record becomes slightly clouded: too many of the agencies in his administration have failed to deliver the reforms that the 2021 executive order envisions, as my colleague Lisa Danetz explains in an article

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on the Brennan Center’s website.

For example, voter registration should be offered at every touchpoint citizens have with the federal government. When an immigrant becomes a U.S. citizen, they should be offered a chance to register after the naturalization ceremony. When an American applies for health insurance through healthcare.gov, there should be an opportunity to register to vote. And yet, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Department of Health and Human Services dither.

The General Services Administration has taken steps to fulfill its mandate, but it also has been slow to finish the job. The website vote.gov, for example, is in serious need of upgrading to become the envisioned one-stop resource where any American can register to vote in any state and in any language.

In too many states, people with disabilities or limited English face barriers to registration and voting. Many people have to travel great distances to fulfill the most basic duty of a citizen. Some states are farcically behind the times — Mississippi and South Dakota still don’t offer online registration.

This is where the federal government can fill gaps. The General Services Administration already includes the National Mail Voter Registration Form on vote.gov, but it’s too hard to find and fill out. This year, the agency must turn it into a fillable web form, and signature capture must be offered, so citizens can easily register to vote in their home states.

Let’s acknowledge: The administration has taken some important steps. In the last two years, the Veterans Affairs Department has prepared to offer voter registration in health facilities in three states. (Forty-seven to go!) The Bureau of Indian Education is implementing voter registration at tribal universities. These are significant wins. But there’s still much to do, and democracy can’t wait.

The singer John Legend declared “Selma is now” at the 2015 Academy Awards. That’s even truer today as legislators in several states work to make registration and voting more difficult. President Biden must do everything he can to counteract those efforts.





Steering Funds to Election Security

A new policy will require states to devote a portion of Department of Homeland Security grant money to improving election security. This new funding could provide crucial support to both voters and election workers — an important step in light of increased harassment and threats. “It is also a meaningful statement from the federal government that it understands threats of physical violence against those who run our elections are a threat to our democracy itself, and that election officials and workers should not feel they are alone when they stand up for free and fair elections for all of us,” Lawrence Norden and Derek Tisler write for Electionline. Read more

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A Twist in the ‘Independent State Legislature Theory’ Case

An unexpected order from the U.S. Supreme Court has raised questions about whether the justices will in fact rule on the dangerous “independent state legislature theory” in the critical democracy case out of North Carolina, Moore v. Harper. If the Court accepts the plaintiffs' radical arguments, it would upend key aspects of our elections. After the oral arguments in December, the North Carolina Supreme Court granted a rehearing of the underlying case. That development prompted the justices to request additional briefing on whether they still had the power to rule in Moore. Our updated explainer maps out where the case could go from here. READ MORE

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State Courts Embracing Change

In a recent decision, Massachusetts’s high court rejected the narrow, tradition-bound analysis that the U.S. Supreme Court used to eliminate federal abortion rights. Instead, it illustrated how state courts can and should take evolving norms of equality into account when ruling on fundamental rights. “The court concluded that under the Massachusetts Constitution, history does not act as a straitjacket to preclude expanded protections for previously marginalized groups,” Northeastern University law professor Martha F. Davis writes for State Court Report. Read more

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Reforming the Census

The government has proposed a long-awaited update to the way the census asks about race and ethnicity. A new Brennan Center explainer reviews the potential changes to the questionnaire and how these would address existing flaws in the count. Collecting more accurate race and ethnicity data is among the many legal reforms Congress and the White House should implement to ensure the census can better serve our increasingly diverse nation. Read more

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A Defense Against Attacks on Education

Before Florida’s legislative session started on Tuesday, state legislators filed several new bills targeting what educators can teach students. It’s part of a wider culture war strategy to destabilize public education by sowing distrust and division, West Virginia University law professor Joshua Weishart writes for State Court Report. Advocates can potentially challenge these efforts by asserting state constitutions’ education clauses — the “highest legal authority for an affirmative right to democratic education,” he writes. READ MORE

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Coming Up

VIRTUAL EVENT: Saying It Loud: In Conversation with Mark Whitaker and Eugene Robinson

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Tuesday, March 14, 6–7 p.m. ET



Five decades ago, the words “Black Power” transformed the civil rights movement, ushering out the nonviolent philosophy of Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis and heralding the turbulent year of 1966. Join us for a virtual premiere with journalist and author Mark Whitaker and Pulitzer Prize–winning columnist Eugene Robinson as Whitaker walks us through his new book, Saying It Loud: 1966—The Year Black Power Challenged the Civil Rights Movement

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, and tells the story of that groundbreaking year. This premiere YouTube stream will include a live text chat Q&A with Whitaker. RSVP today

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Produced in partnership with the NYU Law Black Allied Law Students Association

Want to keep up with Brennan Center Live events? Subscribe to the events newsletter.

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News

Andrew Garber on mass challenges to voter eligibility in Georgia // WJCT

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Amanda Powers on state supreme court diversity // THE 19TH

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Daniel Weiner on the risks of unregulated recount fundraising // DAILY BEAST

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Wendy Weiser on election denial threats to look out for in 2024 // PEW

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Joanna Zdanys on the harms of delaying New York’s public campaign financing program // GOTHAMIST

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