HELENA – Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen led a coalition of attorneys general in challenging the Biden-Harris administration’s unlawful voter registration scheme that turns federal agencies into voter registration organizations and puts the integrity of the country’s elections at risk.

Executive Order 14019, written by left-wing advocacy groups and signed by President Biden in 2021, unlawfully directs federal agencies and departments to use money given to them by Congress to conduct voter registration activities. The federal government has limited authority to regulate voter registration as that is a power granted primarily to the states by Congress and the United States Constitution.

“Fair elections are an essential part of our country’s Republic. Congress gave the states the power to oversee elections years ago,” Attorney General Knudsen said. “I will not stand by while the Biden-Harris administration attempts to shamelessly garner votes by employing its own agencies to register voters and disregard states own voter registration systems, putting the integrity of our elections at risk.”

The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas, asks the court to declare the executive order unconstitutional and unlawful and enjoin all agencies from implementing the order.

For example, the U.S. Department of Justice is registering imprisoned felons to vote—but there was never notice-and-comment on that policy to allow the public to weigh in on whether that is right. In many states, like Montana, it is illegal for felons to vote. The Department of the Treasury also said it would implement EO 14019 by including “information about registration and voter participation in its direct deposit campaigns for Americans who receive Social Security, Veterans Affairs, and other federal benefit payments.”

EO 14019 exceeds any authority executive entities have under federal law, violates the Constitution, threatens States’ attempt to regulate voter registration, and undermines the voter registration systems set up by the States that will impact federal, state, and local elections.

Attorneys general from Kansas, Iowa, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota also joined Attorney General Knudsen in filing the lawsuit.

Click here to read the lawsuit.