Boosting Voter Turnout Gets HHS Push Following Call from Biden

Voter turnout in US elections is getting renewed focus from none other than the Health and Human Services Department, a move that comes just weeks before the midterm elections.

The HHS is asking the public to provide the agency with suggestions and information to help get more citizens of voting age to cast ballots. The request comes in a notice set to publish in the Federal Register on Oct. 24 and is part of the agency’s “Healthy People” initiative for 2030, a decade-long set of health targets and goals.

Bolstering voting numbers has long been a focus of the Biden administration. In March 2021, over a dozen agencies announced efforts on voting access.

According to the White House release, the HHS’s Administration for Community Living was to “launch a new voting access hub to connect older adults and people with disabilities to information, tools and resources to help them understand and exercise their right to vote.”

Likewise, the department’s Indian Health Service was to assist patients with registering to vote.

The effort isn’t without criticism. Action from Congress is key to increasing voter access. Meanwhile, House Republican committee leaders sent a letter to the administration asserting the president should refrain from having agencies go beyond their usual missions.

As for its Healthy People drive, the HHS is accepting feedback on increasing voter turnout through Dec. 2.

The Healthy People 2030 website says "[p]articipating in the electoral process by voting or registering others to vote is an example of civic participation that impacts health.” It also cites a study associating voter participation with “better self-reported health.”

In 2021, the HHS had requested stakeholder comments on “the relationship between voter participation and health status as a measure of civic engagement.”