Biden officials keep states waiting on expanding Medicaid voter registration

An election worker directs voters to a ballot drop-off location in 2020 in Portland, Ore. Oregon is among the states waiting for the Biden administration to greenlight plans to automatically register eligible voters when they apply to enroll in Medicaid. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

Officials in several states are waiting for the Biden administration to greenlight proposals that advocates say could enable hundreds of thousands of lower-income U.S. citizens and citizens with disabilities to vote.

Despite multiple inquiries from members of Congress over the past two years, Biden officials have yet to weigh in on plans for using Medicaid application information to automatically register eligible voters when they sign up for the government-sponsored health insurance.