Voter Empowerment Act of 2026

Election offices would have to include a self-sealing return envelope with your registration form, your absentee application, and your mail ballot, and pay the postage. This starts 90 days after the bill becomes law.

Every state and local election office would have to write a public emergency plan within 90 days, covering natural disasters and disease outbreaks. The plan must include gear and resources to protect poll workers and voters, and be updated at least every five years.

A criminal conviction could not keep you from voting in a federal election unless you are locked up on a felony sentence on Election Day. People on parole or probation could vote. This would apply to any federal election held after the bill becomes law.

State and federal agencies you already deal with — motor vehicle offices, Medicaid, unemployment, veterans and Social Security offices — would pass your name, birth date, address, and citizenship information to election officials, and you would be registered unless you decline. Colleges would do the same for in-state students. States must run this system by January 1, 2028.

You could register and vote the same day, at the polling place, on Election Day or on any early voting day. States would have to allow it for the November 2028 general election and every federal election after that.

Early voting would run from the 15th day before the election through Election Day, at least 10 hours a day, with the same hours each day and some time before 9 a.m. and after 5 p.m. It begins with the November 2028 general election.

States could not limit who may vote absentee by mail, could not require ID to get a mail ballot, and could not demand a notary or witness signature. A ballot postmarked by Election Day would count if it arrives within 10 days. This begins in November 2028.

In a state that asks for ID at the polls, you could instead sign a statement under penalty of perjury, or show a college student ID. First-time voters who registered by mail would still follow the older ID rule. This starts when the bill becomes law.

Every election jurisdiction would have to provide secured, clearly labeled drop boxes, open at all hours, from 45 days before the election until the polls close. Locations must be reachable by public transportation where possible, and tribal leaders must be consulted about boxes on tribal land.

Before removing you based on information from another state, your state would need your full name, birth date, and the last four digits of your Social Security number, or documentation from the ERIC system that you moved away. Those checks would also have to finish six months before an election instead of 90 days.

Election officials could not use undeliverable mail, or lists built from it, to block someone from registering or voting. This practice is known as voter caging. A private citizen challenging a voter would need written, sworn personal knowledge, and could not challenge anyone on Election Day.

A state could not decide you cannot vote just because you are under guardianship. It would take a court order finding, by clear and convincing evidence, that you cannot communicate a wish to take part in voting. This starts January 1, 2027.

Neither the national mail registration form nor a state motor vehicle form could ask you for more than the last four digits of your Social Security number.

Knowingly spreading false information about when, where, or who can vote in a federal election, within 60 days of that election and meaning to stop someone from voting, would be a federal crime. The maximum is a $100,000 fine and five years in prison.

Intimidating, threatening, or coercing a voter is already a federal crime. The most a court could impose would rise from one year to five years in prison, with fines up to $100,000.

A new federal crime would cover corruptly hindering, interfering with, or preventing someone from registering to vote, or from helping another person register. Trying to do it carries the same penalty.

Every paper ballot used in a federal election would have to be printed in the United States on paper manufactured in the United States. Domestic printers and paper mills would gain that work. The rule applies to elections held in 2028 and later.

Each state would have to keep every change to its voter records, including removals and the reason for each one, and let the public inspect them, including online. Records must be held for at least two years.

A state's top election official could not hold a job with a candidate's campaign, raise money for one, or use the office to affect a federal race they supervise. They could still run for office themselves, and would have to step aside if they or a close relative is on the ballot. This applies to elections held after December 2026.

You could file a complaint with the Attorney General and bring your own civil rights lawsuit to enforce federal election standards, such as the right to a paper ballot that gets counted. This covers violations in 2027 and later.

The federal agency that sets election standards has been running on spending authority that expired after 2005 and was capped at $10 million a year. Both the cap and the end date would be dropped, starting with fiscal year 2026.

The state agency that regulates private gun possession would become a voter registration source, passing along your name, birth date, and address unless you decline or do not opt in. It would not send gun records, and election officials could not publicly reveal which agency your information came from.