EXCLUSIVE — A little-known nonprofit group behind a sprawling voter registration effort ahead of the 2024 election is facing congressional scrutiny over concerns about noncitizen voting, according to a letter.
On Tuesday, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) sent the letter to Vot-ER, a charity that a Washington Examiner investigation revealed is funded by left-wing dark money groups and partnered with public health centers to register patients to vote. The congressman addressed the letter to Vot-ER director Aliya Bhatia, a left-wing activist, and CEO Judith Faulkner of Epic Systems, a healthcare software company reportedly linked to Vot-ER’s activities.
“I write today with concerns regarding joint voter registration efforts undertaken by your respective organizations,” Roy wrote in the letter to Bhatia and Faulkner. “Specifically, as evidence non-citizens have illegally registered to vote in federal elections mounts throughout the country, I write to inquire about the steps your organizations are taking to ensure non-citizens do not register to vote under your joint effort.”
Vot-ER, which did not return a request for comment from the Washington Examiner, was founded by Alister Martin, a physician and former adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris.
Vot-ER staffers were present at a 2021 meeting with the Executive Office of the President, the Department of Justice, and other agencies to plan to implement an executive order issued by President Joe Biden giving agencies new tools to register voters, the Washington Examiner reported. The order, in the telling of Republican lawmakers and conservative legal experts, appears to be unconstitutional.
Roy’s letter cited an archived Vot-ER press release from earlier this year stating that “Epic, the Electronic Health Record system that serves over 305 million patients across the country, now includes voter registration options for all customers!” The Texas Republican, moreover, cited an Epic Systems document obtained by his office indicating that healthcare providers using Epic’s services can implement tools developed by Vot-ER “by using a link that directs patients to a nonpartisan tool where they can register to vote.”
However, Roy wrote in his letter, the documents his office obtained make no mention of steps healthcare providers ought to take “to ensure non-citizens do not illegally register to vote in federal elections.”
The Washington Examiner reported in May that outside groups planning to implement Biden’s voter registration order suggested registering illegal immigrants. The May report also revealed that Vot-ER has published content on YouTube on “what to do if your patient shares that they are undocumented.”
“This is of particular concern considering the border crisis has strained many hospital systems throughout the United States due to increased numbers of illegal aliens seeking care — particularly in emergency rooms,” Roy said.
“Worse still, Vot-ER has actively worked against efforts to ensure non-citizens do not illegally register to vote in federal elections,” Roy added in his letter, citing Vot-ER’s opposition to legislation that “would require states to obtain proof of citizenship before registering an individual to vote.”
In a statement to the Washington Examiner, Epic Systems spokeswoman Coral Graszner said her company is still reviewing the letter from Roy.
Graszner insisted that the software Epic provides to customers “does not collect voter registration information or connect to any voter registration website.”
“We are not aware of any customer configuring their instance of Epic to collect voter registration information,” Graszner said. “If a customer chooses to engage in voter registration efforts or partner with a voter registration organization, it is up to them.”
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Roy asked Faulkner and Bhatia to turn over information on the number of individuals who have registered to vote in federal elections or requested a ballot since Epic Systems and Vot-ER partnered.
The Republican congressman also wants to know how the groups aim to thwart noncitizen voting, whether Epic Systems agrees with Vot-ER in opposing the proof of citizenship legislation, and if Vot-ER believes noncitizens should be allowed to vote.
