Vice President Kamala Harris proposed paying college students to register voters through the Federal Work-Study program to promote voter participation among young people.
This initiative aims to engage young leaders in the democratic process and strengthen communities.
“We have been doing work to promote voter participation for students,” Harris said. “For example, we have, under the Federal Work-Study program, now allow students to get paid through Federal Work-Study to register people and to be non-partisan poll workers.”
Kamala Harris says the federal government is going to pay college students to register voters for the election
pic.twitter.com/g0ZfmIR7D8— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 28, 2024
“As we know, this is important for a number of reasons. One, to engage our young leaders in this process and activate them in terms of their ability to strengthen our communities,” she added.
However, the proposal faced criticism from some, who viewed it as a misuse of taxpayer funds for political purposes.
“Biden signed EO14019 ordering federal govt to use taxpayer $ to mobilize (his) voters,” Sen. Bill Hagerty wrote on X.
“@StephenM has FOIAed details, and I’ve sought them in Congress, but Biden is hiding them. Sounds like the election-year plan is underway.”
The proposal comes amidst a split among young voters between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, with Gen Z and millennial voters being identified as a crucial demographic in upcoming elections.
