Recent comments from Biden administration officials have stirred a debate about the role of federal agencies in supporting citizen participation in elections and the validity of voter ID laws.

Concerns have been raised by House Republicans over a lack of transparency regarding the implementation of an executive order by President Biden aimed at encouraging federal agencies to assist in voter registration efforts. This is in addition to statements made by Attorney General Merrick Garland questioning the effectiveness of voter ID laws.

Rep. Claudia Tenney, New York Republican and co-chairwoman of the Election Integrity Caucus, disputes claims that voter ID laws disenfranchise voters. “The statistics don’t bear that out. It’s like 85% of people across all demographics support voter ID,” she said, according to The Daily Signal.

Ms. Tenney’s comments were in response to Mr. Garland, who has criticized these laws as “discriminatory, burdensome and unnecessary.”

In a recent speech in Selma, Alabama, the attorney general said he’s committed to election access, noting that he has bolstered the legal team in the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section to challenge what he calls restrictive measures enacted by various states, “including those related to mail-in voting, the use of drop boxes and voter ID requirements.”

However, studies cited in Fred Lucas’ 2022 book, “The Myth of Voter Suppression,” challenge the notion that voter ID laws impede voter turnout. For example, a 2019 National Bureau of Economic Research study based on data from 2008 to 2018 found no negative effect on voter registration or turnout.

“We’ve had just an unprecedented amount of changes in laws in terms of election integrity,” Ms. Tenney noted, calling for a return to making voting “sacred.”

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