4 Things to Know About Biden’s New Voting Czar

As Democrats push to expand the federal government’s purview over elections, President Joe Biden has named a former Justice Department official to be a White House adviser on voting issues. 

Biden this week tapped Justin Levitt, a Loyola Law School professor, to be his senior adviser for democracy and voting rights. 

A Loyola Law School press release says: 
 
Levitt will assist the president in his efforts to ensure every eligible American has secure, reliable access to a meaningful vote; to provide equitable representation in federal, state and local government; to restore trust in a democracy deserving of that trust, and to shore up and expand the avenues by which all Americans engage in robust civic participation.

Here are four things to know about Levitt, whose appointment by Biden doesn’t require Senate confirmation. 

1. His Justice Department Record

Levitt is a former deputy assistant U.S. attorney general in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division during the Obama administration. His focus there included voting rights and employment discrimination. 

During that time, he oversaw only one voting rights case—under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which bars discrimination, according to the Public Interest Legal Foundation, an election integrity group. 

Levitt didn’t bring any cases under Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act, which pertains to assistance for voters who have a disability, according to the foundation.

Nor did Levitt bring any cases to enforce the cleanup of voter registration rolls under provisions of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. Also known as “motor voter,” the law requires that election officials rid the registration rolls of voters who have died or moved. 

Public Interest Legal Foundation also notes that Levitt did not bring any cases under the Help America Vote Act. 

“His time as [deputy assistant] U.S. attorney general for civil rights was one of the quietest periods for voting rights litigation brought by the DOJ in recent history,” the legal foundation’s press release states. “In sum, Levitt does not return to government with a track record of action.”

Neither Levitt nor the White House responded to inquiries Thursday from The Daily Signal. 

Levitt’s outgoing voicemail message and his automatic email response note his new government job and say: “If you have a question related to democracy, voting rights, equitable representation, or civic participation, I will be unable to respond outside of my official capacity.” 

2. His Activism

Levitt has been critical of Georgia’s recent election reforms, telling FactCheck.org that the state’s new law bans food and drink from voter lines at polling places.  

“This new prohibition is extra, and prevents giving anyone in line food or drink, even if it’s demonstrably not an incentive (e.g., giving someone who had already waited two hours in line a bottle of water),” Levitt told the website in an email.

Actually, the new Georgia law bans campaign workers and activists from handing out food or drink within a certain distance but specifically allows poll workers to hand out water. The law prevents campaign workers from setting up a booth 150 feet from a polling station or within 25 feet of a voter.

Georgia law previously prohibited providing something of value near polling places. However, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and other officials noted that campaign workers were using a “line-warming loophole” to hand out food and drink—in some cases with a candidate’s name attached. 

Before working at the Justice Department, Levitt worked at the Brennan Center for Justice, a left-leaning think tank affiliated with New York University School of Law. 
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