On August 19, the Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education issued a “Dear Colleague” letter regarding the distribution of voter registration forms and allowable uses for Federal Work-Study (FWS) funds. Notably, the new guidance rescinds previous letters from the Biden administration (GEN-22-05 and GEN-24-03) that had interpreted the Higher Education Act (HEA) as requiring institutions to make a good faith effort to distribute voter registration forms and permitting the use of FWS funds for voter registration activities.
Under existing ED regulations, FWS funds are prohibited from being used for employing students whose work “involves any partisan or nonpartisan political activity.” Under the Biden administration, GEN-22-05 and GEN-24-03 allowed FWS to be used for voter registration activities, as the administration interpreted such work to be outside the restrictions under the existing regulations.
The Trump administration’s guidance letter states that previous letters issued by ED under the Biden administration “inappropriately expanded the allowable uses of FWS funds relating to voter registration beyond what is contemplated” under existing HEA and FWS regulations. The letter takes the position that jobs involving partisan or nonpartisan voter registration, voter assistance at polling places, or serving as a poll worker “involve political activity because these activities support the process of voting which is a quintessential political activity whereby voters formally support partisan or nonpartisan political candidates by casting ballots.” As such, the guidance letter rescinds previous letters GEN-22-05 and GEN-24-03.
In addition to the recission of previous guidance, the new letter reasserts institutions’ obligations to distribute voter registration forms to students. It states that institutions may consider reminding students of eligibility requirements for voting in federal, state and local elections, and it reminds institutions of their obligations to avoid aiding and abetting voter fraud.
The letter clarifies that the new guidance does not have the force and effect of law and is intended to provide clarity on existing legal and regulatory requirements. CUPA-HR will continue to monitor for updates.