DOJ Advocates for Voting Rights for Undocumented Immigrants and Former Felons

Accusations have been made by Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson that the U.S. Justice Department, through the U.S. Marshals Service, is encouraging illegal immigrants and incarcerated felons to register to vote.

Watson, a Republican, wrote a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland urging him to stop enforcing President Biden’s Executive Order 14019, which aimed to expand citizens’ voting opportunities and participation in the electoral process.

In his letter, Watson claimed that the Justice Department’s actions to comply with the executive order have led to attempting to register potentially ineligible felons to vote and involved state and local officials in the process.

Watson expressed concern about the U.S. Marshals Service modifying agreements with prisons to provide voter registration materials to ineligible prisoners, potentially leading to inaccurate voter registration in Mississippi.

He also raised alarms about Mississippi jails being enlisted to assist federal prisoners with voter registration, highlighting concerns about the reliability of the organizations involved in the process.

Watson emphasized the risk of ineligible noncitizens voting due to the notification provided to everyone in the Marshals’ custody about their right to register and vote in U.S. elections.

He requested Garland to stop enforcing the order until the integrity of voter rolls is ensured and to provide details on the procedures to evaluate any damage to Mississippi’s voter rolls.