An internal memorandum showing alarm within the Democratic Party over its “nonpartisan” voter registration efforts possibly helping former President Donald Trump is drawing criticism from those who maintain registration efforts were a “partisan scam” from the beginning.
Democrats countrywide have become progressively concerned over the amount of support Trump is drawing from usually reliable Democratic donors and demographics. Demographics have been bickering over an internal memo casting doubt on whether the party should continue to use nonprofits to register unregistered voters over fears it could help the former president, reported the Washington Post this week.
“Indeed, if we were to register nonvoters and get them on the rolls blindly, we would be distinctly aiding Trump’s quest for a personal dictatorship,” explained the memo, which cast doubt on the longstanding Dem push for voter registration that typically has resulted in favorable results during previous elections.
The memo argues that Democrats should focus their registration efforts on “specific, heavily pro-Biden populations.” The Washington Post explains that “the rise in Trump support among nonregistered voters has run up against a long-held Democratic policy priority of growing the voter rolls.”
Some political pundits claimed the article in the Washington Post shows some Democrat registrations labeled nonpartisan are working to register Democrats solely.
“Left-wing strategists accidentally said the quiet part out loud: their ‘nonpartisan’ left-wing voter registration efforts have always been highly partisan operations designed to help Democrats,” said executive director of Honest Elections Project, Jason Snead.
This administration raises grave questions about other programs the left also claims are ‘nonpartisan,’ including President Biden’s executive order using taxpayers’ money to mobilize liberal voters. The press should take note of and remember this rare moment of honesty from the left the next time they cry ‘voter suppression,'” said Snead.
“Democrat donors are now getting memos telling them to stop funding voter registration nonprofits because unregistered voters lean towards Trump,” said Parker Thayer, an investigative researcher on X, in response to the report. “It’s all a partisan scam.”
The memo comes as the most recent polling data suggests Joe Biden continues to lose support from historically critical demographics that have been registered by Democrats and voted for Democrats.
Gallup polling this year showed Democrats currently hold the lowest lead they have ever had with Black voters, dating back to when polling started in 1999. Their 12-point advantage over GOP voters with Hispanic voters is the lowest since 2011.
Polling has also shown young adults stand behind Democrats at the lowest level in almost two decades.
“By 2010, young adults were the only age category giving the Democrats an edge, and their Democratic orientation remained strong until it fell to just eight points in 2023, the slimmest since 2005,” explained Gallup.
Gallup polling in 2016 showed about 51% of nonregistered voters leaning or identifying as Democrats compared to 31% who leaned or identified as Republicans. Over the past year, the Democrats’ number has fallen to 42% while the GOP number has grown to 40%, reported the Washington Post.
Some Dems pushed back in the Washington Post on the idea registration efforts must be reworked because of Trump’s substantial polling numbers with reliable Democrat voters.
“If you ask me what keeps me up at night, it’s not that young people of color are going to defect to the Republican camp. My worst-case scenario is that memos like this create disinvestment—and that makes our job very hard,” said Teresa Kumar, CEO and president of Voto Latino. Kumar added that the memo demonstrates “implicit bias that the mainstream folks have internalized” and that it “does a disservice because it’s trying to pit communities against each other in ways that are not helpful.”
“From a nonpartisan perspective, we should help close the turnout gap, which means if Latinos, Blacks, and Asian Americans are registered at lower rates, then we need to increase registration,” said Matt Barreto, Biden pollster, to the Washington Post.
“The unregistered people of color are still leaning Democratic. They might need more of a push. But they are not leaning in the opposite direction.”
