by Natalia Mittelstadt
The federal government is working with left-wing organizations to implement “Bidenbucks,” which is President Biden’s executive order to turn as many federal agencies as possible into get-out-the-vote (GOTV) centers across all states.
The Department of Justice worked with left-wing organizations to determine how to implement Biden’s executive order to use the federal government to register voters, which began after one of those groups aided the Biden administration with creating the executive order.
In March 2021, Biden signed Executive Order 14019, often referred to by critics as “Bidenbucks,” which alludes to “Zuckerbucks,” the approximately $400 million from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg widely alleged to have been funneled through left-leaning nonprofits to turn out the Democratic vote in the 2020 presidential election.
According to the Executive Order, “The head of each agency shall evaluate ways in which the agency can, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, promote voter registration and voter participation,” including “soliciting and facilitating approved, nonpartisan third-party organizations and State officials to provide voter registration services on agency premises.”
Similar to “Bidenbucks,” “Zuckerbucks” came to notice when the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) poured about $350 million into local elections offices managing the 2020 election, with most of the funds donated to the nonprofit by Zuckerberg. The nonprofit has claimed its 2020 election grants — colloquially known as “Zuckerbucks” — were allocated without partisan preference to make voting safer amid the pandemic.
However, a House Republican investigation found that less than 1 percent of the funds were spent on personal protective equipment. Most of the funds were focused on get-out-the-vote efforts and registrations in areas heavily leaning towards Democratic candidates.
Controversy followed after evidence came to light surrounding the disproportionate private funding funneled to Democratic jurisdictions and claims the imbalance helped sway the 2020 election in Biden’s favor. 28 states have either restricted or banned the use of private money to fund elections, while 12 counties have also restricted or banned the funds, according to the Capital Research Center.
According to public records obtained by the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project, the DOJ had a “listening session” in July 2021 with multiple non-governmental organizations (NGOs) regarding the implementation of “Bidenbucks.”
Heritage found that every NGO participant whose political donation history or party affiliation could be identified was Democrat except for a Green Party member.
Some of the NGOs included: AFL-CIO, AFSCME; The American Civil Liberties Union; The Anti-Defamation League; Black Voters Matter; Brennan Center for Justice at NYU; Common Cause; Democracy Fund; Demos; End Citizens United/Let America Vote; The Fair Elections Center; Fair Fight Action; FairVote; Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights; The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; The Mexican American Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF); NAACP; National Education Association; National Urban League; Native American Rights Fund, League of Women Voters; Open Society Policy Center; and The Southern Poverty Law Center.
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition of 240 left-wing NGOs, and Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Kristen Clarke led the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, which is part of the coalition, until she was confirmed to her current position in the Biden administration.
The public records included notes from the DOJ listening session with the NGOs, and one of the main concerns was ensuring prison inmates get registered to vote and tactics to have felons’ voting rights restored.
The Sentencing Project’s representative said during the meeting, “Where there is a concentration of eligible voters (for example, facility in West VA w/ lots of DC residents) — could provide in-person voting options, such as voting machines. Puerto Rico does this, which leads to higher participation.”
The representative later added, “felony disenfranchisement is voter suppression.”
Also during the listening session, The Campaign Legal Center’s representative said, “We remain concerned about BOP’s focus on voter registration only, and only on individuals from ME, VT, and DC. Felons in Puerto Rico are also eligible to vote. In Mississippi, don’t lose right to vote for federal convictions, and AL also has some eligibility. Those individuals with convictions for federal misdemeanors can usually vote, too.”
According to Biden’s executive order, “The Attorney General shall establish procedures, consistent 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.”
Biden’s order later adds, “The Attorney General shall establish procedures, consistent with applicable 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.”
One of the NGOs, Demos, published a document on Dec. 3, 2020, titled Executive Action to Advance Democracy: What the Biden-Harris Administration and the Agencies Can Do to Build a More Inclusive Democracy.
According to the document, it “lays out a series of executive actions the new administration can take in partnership with federal agencies to help ensure the integrity of our elections and strengthen opportunities for civic participation for all Americans, particularly for Black and brown Americans.”
The plan includes:
1. Direct federal agencies to provide voter registration services.
2. Strengthen the Department of Justice’s enforcement of and guidance on voting rights statutes.
3. Support the Election Assistance Commission in its efforts to strengthen access to voting and voter registration.
4. Create an Office of Democracy and Civic Innovation within the White House.
5. Strengthen the U.S. Postal Service’s ability to deliver election mail and other critical mail to all Americans.
6. Ensure access to Federal Bureau of Prison data needed to end prison-based Gerrymandering.
The day Biden signed the executive order, Demos took credit for its basis: “The Executive Order represents an important step forward on an initiative Demos promoted as a priority for the Biden-Harris administration during the presidential transition and has been a focal point of the think tank’s work for many years.”
According to its website, Demos “is a non-profit public policy organization working to build a just, inclusive, multiracial democracy and economy. We work hand in hand to build power with and for Black and brown communities, forging strategic alliances with grassroots and state-based organizations.”
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Natalia graduated from Regent University with Bachelor of Arts degrees in Communication Studies and Government.
Photo “DOJ Building” by Coolcaesar. CC BY-SA 3.0.
