HUD Pushes Voter Drives in Public Housing Under Biden's Order

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will engage in voter registration efforts that in some cases allow mass collection of voter registration forms by public housing officials, raising concerns about the potential for voter fraud among other legal issues.

HUD sent guidance to executive directors of more than 3,000 public housing authorities managing about 1.2 million housing units, providing advice on "Running a PHA-initiated voter registration drive."

Federal housing officials also advised the local agencies on how to apply to become a "Voter registration agency under the National Voter Registration Act," and how to set up drop boxes for ballots on the premises.

The guidance from HUD to local public housing agencies marks the first time in over 25 years that the federal government affirmed that local agencies receiving federal tax dollars may get involved in voter registration, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a nonprofit public housing advocacy group.

On Feb. 9, four HUD offices mailed guidance regarding voter participation to local public housing agencies.

Previously, officials at many local public housing agencies said they couldn't get involved in voter registration because they accept money from the federal government.

The federal guidance for multifamily public housing stipulates that partisanship isn't permissible, and prohibits actions that "Suggest that benefits are in any way tied to a participant's voting activity" or give "The appearance that the processes of voter registration or voting are not voluntary processes."

https://www.dailysignal.com/2022/04/27/hud-pushes-voter-registration-drives-in-public-housing-under-bidens-executive-order/