College Students Will Be Paid to Work at Polls, Harris Says

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks about gun safety at the White House on Sept. 22, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

College students will be able to get paid for working at polling places ahead of the 2024 election through a federally funded work-study program, Vice President Kamala Harris said.

Ms. Harris made the announcement on Feb. 27 when meeting with voting rights activists in Washington to talk about strategies to boost voter turnout.

“We have been doing work to promote voter participation for students,” she said. “For example, we have, under the Federal Work-Study (FWS) program, now allow students to get paid, through federal work-study, to register people and to be nonpartisan poll workers.”

Work-study is a way for students to earn money to pay for their education through part-time, typically on-campus jobs. The taxpayer-funded program is meant to provide students with an opportunity to gain work experience while pursuing a college degree.

In some states such as New York, college campuses hosting more than a certain number of active voters are mandated to have a polling place.

A 2022 study by Duke University found that, as of 2020, about three-fourths of American college campuses did not have any in-person voting options on campus.

In a Feb. 26 memo, the Department of Education stated that FWS funds could be used to support efforts to increase voters’ access to the polls, particularly by employing students in voter registration activities by public entities.

“The Department is today clarifying that FWS funds may be used for employment by a Federal, State, local, or Tribal public agency for civic engagement work that is not associated with a particular interest or group,” the document reads.

“This work can include supporting broad-based get-out-the-vote activities, voter registration, providing voter assistance at a polling place or through a voter hotline, or serving as a poll worker.”

Obamacare Enrollees to Get Reminders

As another part of the effort to increase voter engagement, the Biden administration will start sending voting information to the 21 million Americans currently enrolled in Affordable Care Act marketplaces, Ms. Harris said on Feb. 27.

“I can now announce ... that HHS, Health and Human Services, will start emailing information on how to register to vote to everyone who enrolls in the ACA, the Affordable Care Act,” she said, referring to the health insurance plan known as Obamacare.

The Department of the Interior will also start displaying voter registration information at the gate of every national park, the vice president said. Social Security offices will display similar information.

“There’s so much about our work that we do together that really is grounded and also I think a common belief in the importance of self-determination and the connection between that and the right of people to be able to express their civic duty in every way including through their ability, unfettered ability to vote,” she said.

Ms. Harris also took the opportunity to blame those who question election integrity for election workers quitting in droves.

“We have seen those who would loudly attempt to interfere in the lawful votes of the American people and attempt to question the integrity of a fair and free election system,” she told the audience. “We have seen a rise in threats against poll workers.”

In line with her comments, the Department of Justice on Feb. 27 said a 37-year-old Indiana man has pleaded guilty to threatening by phone to kill a Michigan election clerk shortly after the 2020 election.

Michigan was one of the battleground states that became a center of controversy because of heavily contested election outcomes in 2020.

Among other threats, the man said in a voicemail message that the clerk deserved a “throat to the knife” for saying that there were “no irregularities” in the election, according to federal prosecutors.

He is scheduled to be sentenced in July and faces up to five years in prison.