Executive Order 14019, signed by President Joe Biden on March 7, 2021, directed federal agencies to promote voter registration and expand access to election information during their routine interactions with the public. President Trump revoked it on January 20, 2025 through Executive Order 14148, and a March 2025 directive ordered all agencies to stop any remaining implementation work. The order is no longer in effect, but it shaped federal voter-access policy for nearly four years and left behind changes at Vote.gov that still operate today.
What the Order Directed Agencies to Do
The order invoked the president’s Article II authority over the executive branch and treated agency touchpoints with the public as opportunities to offer voter registration. Twelve sections covered strategic planning, designation under the National Voter Registration Act, a Vote.gov overhaul, and targeted provisions for specific populations. The substantive directives ran through Sections 3 through 10.1The American Presidency Project. Executive Order 14019 – Promoting Access to Voting
Section 3 required every federal agency head to submit a strategic plan within 200 days to the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy. Each plan had to evaluate whether the agency could distribute voter registration forms, help with vote-by-mail applications, provide links to state election information, and incorporate voting resources into agency websites, all without interfering with agency staff’s primary duties. Many of these plans were not publicly released, which became a point of contention.
The National Voter Registration Act Designation Change
Section 4 was the most structurally significant piece. Federal law already allowed states to request that federal offices be designated as voter registration agencies under the National Voter Registration Act, but the designation required the federal office to agree.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 52 USC 20506 – Voter Registration Agencies Before the order, federal agencies had wide discretion to decline.
The order reversed that default. Agencies were told to agree to designation whenever a state requested it, and to proactively notify states of their willingness to accept. An agency head who wanted to decline had to submit a written explanation directly to the president.1The American Presidency Project. Executive Order 14019 – Promoting Access to Voting The provision superseded a more permissive 1994 Clinton-era executive order.
The Vote.gov Overhaul
Section 5 directed the General Services Administration to overhaul Vote.gov. The order set three concrete requirements: compliance with Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, translation into all languages covered by Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act, and implementation of the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act.3GovInfo. Executive Order 14019 – Promoting Access to Voting
By 2024, Vote.gov offered content in 17 languages, including Spanish, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese (simplified and traditional), French, Haitian Creole, Hindi, Khmer, Korean, Navajo, Portuguese, Russian, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Yup’ik. The selection drew from Census Bureau data on limited-English-proficiency populations and Voting Rights Act coverage determinations.4USAGov. Why Vote.gov Supports Multiple Languages The site still operates and still provides state-specific registration links and deadlines.
Provisions for Specific Populations
Sections 7 through 10 addressed groups the order identified as facing disproportionate barriers.
Voters With Disabilities
Section 7 directed agencies to ensure voters with disabilities could cast a private, independent ballot. The provision reached beyond polling place access to require that agencies’ own outreach materials and registration assistance meet accessibility standards, paired with Vote.gov’s Rehabilitation Act compliance under Section 5.
Military and Overseas Voters
Section 8 directed the Secretary of Defense to support the Federal Post Card Application, which functions as both a registration form and an absentee ballot request for military members and citizens abroad.1The American Presidency Project. Executive Order 14019 – Promoting Access to Voting The form is postage-free, distributed by the Federal Voting Assistance Program, and accepted by all states and territories under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act.5U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual. 7 FAM 1540 Basic Absentee Voting Process
Native American Voters
Section 9 required agencies with a significant tribal presence to evaluate how to expand voter registration services for Native American voters, including placing registration sites at locations accessible to tribal communities.1The American Presidency Project. Executive Order 14019 – Promoting Access to Voting The order also established the Interagency Steering Group on Native American Voting Rights, which issued a 2022 report documenting barriers including nonstandard residential addresses, limited broadband access, and long travel distances to registration and polling sites.6The White House. Report of the Interagency Steering Group on Native American Voting Rights
People in Federal Custody
Section 10 directed the Attorney General to evaluate policies for helping incarcerated individuals register and vote, including educational materials explaining eligibility and the process for restoring voting rights after release.1The American Presidency Project. Executive Order 14019 – Promoting Access to Voting Federal prisoners generally lose voting rights during incarceration, and post-release eligibility depends on the state where the person registers.
The Legal Challenge
The most prominent lawsuit was America First Policy Institute v. Biden, filed by a conservative policy organization and several state officials. Plaintiffs argued the order violated the Administrative Procedure Act, the National Voter Registration Act, and the Tenth Amendment. Their core constitutional argument was that the federal role in elections is limited to regulating the time, place, and manner of congressional elections and enforcing specific antidiscrimination protections, with everything else reserved to the states.
The court denied an emergency temporary restraining order in September 2024. After the November 2024 election and President Trump’s revocation of the order in January 2025, the plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed the case. The constitutional questions raised, including whether a president can direct agencies to promote voter registration beyond what Congress has specifically mandated, were never resolved on the merits.
Revocation and What Remains
Executive Order 14148, titled “Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions,” revoked Executive Order 14019 on January 20, 2025. Two months later, a separate executive order titled “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections” directed all agencies and the Election Assistance Commission to cease remaining implementation activities. Agency heads had 90 days to submit compliance reports confirming they had stopped work related to the order.7The White House. Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections
The revocation did not touch the underlying statutes the order relied on. The National Voter Registration Act still allows states to designate federal offices as voter registration agencies when those offices agree.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 52 USC 20506 – Voter Registration Agencies Vote.gov still operates and still provides registration links in multiple languages. The Federal Post Card Application remains available to military and overseas voters. What changed is executive branch posture. Agencies are no longer directed to seek designation as registration sites, submit strategic plans for promoting voter participation, or treat expanding registration access as an institutional priority.