False claim that federal work-study program involves bribing voters | Fact check

Hannah Hudnall, USA TODAY
·3 min read

The claim: Kamala Harris said Democrats will use taxpayer money to bribe voters

A Feb. 28 Instagram video (direct link, archive link) shows a Fox News clip of Vice President Kamala Harris speaking about a way for college students to earn money.

"The Federal Work-Study Program now allows students to get paid through Federal Work-Study to register people and to be nonpartisan poll workers," Harris says.

Part of the on-screen text says, "Democrats using tax payer dollars to bribe voters."

The post garnered more than 1,000 likes in two weeks. Other versions of the claim were shared on Facebook, Instagram and X, formerly Twitter.

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Our rating: False

The federal work-study program described by Harris in the video allows college students to be paid to register voters and work as nonpartisan poll workers. Program funds are not being spent to bribe voters. It is illegal for participants in the program to be paid for work benefitting a political party.

Program has nothing to do with 'bribing' voters

The post misrepresents a Feb. 27 speech Harris delivered to state and local voting rights leaders. In the speech, Harris discussed the Biden administration's four-part strategy to protect Americans' freedom to vote.

Harris said one part of the plan, directed at promoting voter participation among students, would involve the federal work-study program, which provides part-time jobs for undergraduate and graduate students with financial need. Under the program, college students can get paid to register voters and work as nonpartisan poll workers, Harris said.

A transcript of her speech published by the White House shows she didn't mention anything about bribing voters.

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Federal regulations state that such work-study employment must be "in the public interest" and must not be performed to benefit a particular interest or group. They forbid work involving "any partisan or nonpartisan political activity" or work "associated with a faction in an election for public or party office."

That's in line with a Feb. 26 memo from the Education Department saying the program's funds may be used for employment by "a federal, state, local or tribal public agency for civic engagement work that is not associated with a particular interest or group." Voter registration and serving as a poll worker were listed as examples.

The idea of using federal work-study funds for voting-related jobs is not new. In a 2022 memo, the Department of Education referenced using those funds for supporting voter registration activities, while similarly noting the work-study funds can't support any partisan activity.

Florida International University, Northwestern University, Alabama A&M University and Simpson College are among the schools to use work-study funds to pay students for such work, according to bestcolleges.com.

USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

PolitiFact and Check Your Fact also debunked the claim.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Federal work-study funds not being used to 'bribe voters' | Fact check

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