re: Executive Order on Promoting Access to Voting

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Sec. 5. Modernizing Vote.gov. The General Services Administration (GSA) shall take steps to modernize and improve the user experience of Vote.gov. In determining how to do so, GSA shall coordinate with the Election Assistance Commission and other agencies as appropriate, and seek the input of affected stakeholders, including election administrators, civil rights and disability rights advocates, Tribal Nations, and nonprofit groups that study best practices for using technology to promote civic engagement.
(a) GSA’s efforts to modernize and improve Vote.gov shall include:
(i) ensuring that Vote.gov complies, at minimum, with sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973;
(ii) ensuring that Vote.gov is translated into languages spoken by any of the language groups covered under section 203 of the Voting Rights Act anywhere in the United States; and
(iii) implementing relevant provisions of the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (Public Law 115-336).
(b) Within 200 days of the date of this order, GSA shall submit to the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy a strategic plan outlining the steps to modernize and improve the user experience of Vote.gov.
Sec. 6. Increasing Opportunities for Employees to Vote. It is a priority of my Administration to ensure that the Federal Government, as the Nation’s largest employer, serves as a model employer by encouraging and facilitating Federal employees’ civic participation. Accordingly, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall take the following actions within 200 days of the date of this order:
(a) coordinate with the heads of executive agencies, as defined in 5 U.S.C. 105, to provide recommendations to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, on strategies to expand the Federal Government’s policy of granting employees time off to vote in Federal, State, local, Tribal, and territorial elections. Such recommendations should include efforts to ensure Federal employees have opportunities to participate in early voting.
(b) Coordinate with the heads of executive agencies, as defined in 5 U.S.C. 105, to provide recommendations to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, on strategies to better support Federal employees who wish to volunteer to serve as non-partisan poll workers or non-partisan observers, particularly during early or extended voting periods.
Sec. 7. Ensuring Equal Access for Voters with Disabilities. Within 270 days of the date of this order, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) within the Department of Commerce shall evaluate the steps needed to ensure that the online Federal Voter Registration Form is accessible to people with disabilities. During that period, NIST, in consultation with the Department of Justice, the Election Assistance Commission, and other agencies, as appropriate, shall also analyze barriers to private and independent voting for people with disabilities, including access to voter registration, voting technology, voting by mail, polling locations, and poll worker training. By the end of the 270-day period, NIST shall publish recommendations regarding both the Federal Voter Registration Form and the other barriers it has identified.
Sec. 8. Ensuring Access to Voting for Active Duty Military and Overseas Citizens. (a) Within 200 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Defense shall establish procedures, consistent with applicable law, to affirmatively offer, on an annual basis, each member of the Armed Forces on active duty the opportunity to register to vote in Federal elections, update voter registration information, or request an absentee ballot.
(b) Within 200 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Defense shall evaluate the feasibility of implementing an online system to facilitate the services described in subsection (a) of this section.
(c) The Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Department of State, the Military Postal Service Agency, and the United States Postal Service, shall take all practical steps to establish procedures to enable a comprehensive end-to-end ballot tracking system for all absentee ballots cast by military and other eligible overseas voters under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, 52 U.S.C. 20301 et seq. Within 200 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Defense shall submit a report to the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy with a strategic plan for establishing the aforementioned tracking system.
(d) The head of each agency with overseas employees shall designate an employee to be responsible for coordinating with the Federal Voting Assistance Program, including to promote voter registration and voting services available to the agency’s overseas employees. The Director of the Office of Management and Budget may issue guidance to assist agencies in making such designations.

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