States that allow third-party ballot collection — sometimes called ballot harvesting — would lose access to federal election administration funding under this bill. Federal funds are currently used to help states run elections for federal offices. The bill would still permit family members, household members, caregivers, postal workers, and official election workers to return a voter's mailed ballot on their behalf. States that want to keep receiving federal election funds would need to pass laws restricting outside third parties from collecting and submitting ballots.
Civil Liberties
- Permitted ballot returners — Narrowed to family, household, caregivers, postal/common carriers, and election officials
- Federal funding pressure on state ballot-collection rules — HAVA election-administration funds withheld unless state restricts third-party collection
- State discretion over mail-ballot return rules — Federal funding conditioned on adopting the bill's restrictions
Congressional Summary
No Federal Funds for Ballot Harvesting Act This bill requires each state, in order to receive federal funds for election administration, to prohibit the knowing collection and transmission of a ballot in a federal election that was mailed to another person (commonly referred to as ballot harvesting), with exceptions.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2026-02-04
- Date Added
- 2026-04-10
- Source
- Congress.gov →
Like reading a bill in plain English?
We're building an app that does this for every bill in Congress and lets you tell your reps how you want them to vote. We're a small team getting ready to launch, and we're trying to show investors that real people want this. Be one of them. Help us get it built. Leave your email and we'll tell you the moment the app is ready.