Funds for Voter Registration Efforts Halted at American Job Centers
In a democratic society, all efforts should be taken to make it easier to vote. Alas, that increasingly is not the case, as highlighted in a recent guidance letter from the Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration (ETA) to state workforce agencies and development boards.
The letter informs state and local governments, and other recipients of ETA funds that federal financial assistance cannot fund or reimburse the costs of voter registration activities conducted within the American Job Center (AJC) network. Recipients are urged to review their policies, processes and procedures, including applicable memoranda of understanding and cost sharing agreements, to ensure compliance with the letter.
The public workforce system, under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), is designed to help job seekers access employment, education, training and support services to succeed in the labor market and to match employers with skilled workers. The agency maintains that WIOA funding and other ETA-funded activities should adhere closely to their intended mission and be directly tied to their authorized activities.
“WIOA funding can be used for a wide variety of activities that support employment and training of American workers or the skilled labor demands of American employers but cannot be used for purposes unrelated to the statute, [and using] ETA-provided resources for voter registration redirects programs away from their core workforce development mission,” according to the agency, adding that this action supports President Trump's Executive Order 14248, Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections.
ETA contends that the guidance does not change the WIOA Youth elements or change any participants’ right to vote, and points out that grantees may not allocate costs for voter registration activities to their ETA grant, as voter registration activities are outside the purposes of ETA’s grants. Still, AJC centers are aimed to provide services for low-income individuals, who, without access to voter registration at an AJC site, may not gain the information they need should they wish to register to vote. Again, just one more action taken to make it harder to vote.
We will continue to watch to see if other agencies take steps to halt funding for voter registration. We won’t be surprised if more actions like this emerge.
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