Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson (R) has issued a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) urging a halt to the enforcement of an executive order by Joe Biden that could result in the registration of ineligible voters, Fox News first reported.
The executive order, No. 14019, was signed by Joe Biden on March 7, 2021, with the aim of promoting voter access and combating racial discrimination in voting.
However, Watson alleges that the order has been misused by federal agencies to intrude on state rights and potentially undermine the integrity of Mississippi’s voter registration process.
Watson stated in his letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, “These efforts are an intrusion into state matters and are a misuse of federal revenue and resources.”
He expressed concern that DOJ agencies are altering agreements with local jails, specifically to provide voter registration materials and assist in mail voting, possibly enrolling ineligible voters.
The letter states, “According to the Marshals Service, they are modifying 936 contracts or intergovernmental agreements to require state and local government complicity in the potential registration of ineligible prisoners to vote.”
“It further requires the Department of Justice to facilitate voter registration and mail voting for individuals in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons. This program creates numerous opportunities for ineligible prisoners to be registered to vote in Mississippi.”
Watson also raised concerns regarding the potential involvement of partisan entities in the voter registration process and the risk of non-citizen prisoners being misinformed about their eligibility to vote, potentially putting them in legal jeopardy.
“[The program] provides prisoners with misleading information concerning their right to both register and vote in Mississippi – a right which they may not have.”
“For example, many of the people in the custody of the Marshals are convicted felons whom Mississippi law deems ineligible to vote. Additionally, many of those in custody only have fleeting ties to Mississippi and do not meet the residency requirements necessary to be a Mississippi voter,” the letter states.
Jason Snead, Executive Director of the Honest Elections Project, supported Watson’s stance, accusing the Biden regime of pursuing a partisan scheme at the expense of election integrity and voter confidence.
“The Biden Administration is aggressively pursuing a partisan get-out-the-vote scheme using taxpayer dollars,” Snead remarked, highlighting the potential registration of ineligible voters and the mobilization of youth voters through taxpayer-funded initiatives.
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The letter specifically addresses concerns that illegal immigrants in the Mississippi prison system could potentially be registered to vote through this executive order if the program is not closely monitored.
“Our understanding is that everyone in the Marshals’ custody is given a form advising them of their right to register and vote,” the letter says. “Providing ineligible non-citizens with information on how to register to vote undoubtedly encourages them to illegally register to vote, exposing them to legal jeopardy beyond their immigration status.”
Watson’s letter says that it is “quite shocking” that the Biden administration would “expend tax dollars and vital law enforcement resources” on a program “that risks bloating state voter rolls with ineligible and non-citizen voters” during a time when millions of illegal immigrants have crossed the southern border.
Watson told Fox News Digital that this is an “urgent” matter with a presidential election just 8 months away.
“If you look at what’s going on at the border when you’ve got so many illegal aliens pouring into our country, imagine the efforts used to get them to register to vote and that’s what this is all about,” Watson told Fox News Digital. “It’s about control, it’s about continuing their power, and unfortunately that puts our country in a terrible position, so it’s immediate and it’s something where we hope they will respect our request to stop the program.”
“The information we want to see is which prisons they’re working in in Mississippi, we’ve asked them to prove to us the documentation, what exactly are you doing in our prisons? We want to make sure we understand which prisoners you’ve been talking to, so we can understand whether or not they’re eligible to vote and I think it’s incumbent upon all of the states to take this notice up and to push back as hard as we can because with this election coming up in November it is incredibly important to the future of our country. What we have left of it.”
