Sponsors (4)
The bill increases federal coordination, funding, and planning to keep elections running during climate-driven disasters and improve voter access, while imposing new costs, administrative burdens, and raising federal-state tension over election authority.
State and local election officials (and therefore voters in affected areas) will be required and supported to plan for continuing elections during extreme-weather and disaster events, improving continuity of voting and reducing the chance of disrupted or cancelled elections.
Federal designation, guidance, and grant funding create stronger federal support and coordination to protect and upgrade election infrastructure (including voting systems) to be more resilient in climate-driven disasters.
Voters — especially those displaced or in vulnerable groups — gain clearer access and information during disasters through statutory eligibility triggers, toll-free hotlines, and education about disaster election plans, which can preserve ballot access in emergencies.
Taxpayers (and federal budgets) will face increased spending obligations — including a specified $20 million/year grant program for five years plus potential future costs identified by required studies — without explicit offsets.
Expanding federal roles (e.g., framing elections as critical infrastructure, federal guidance, and conditional grants) may be viewed as federal overreach into state-run election administration, raising political and legal friction.
State and local election offices — particularly small or resource-constrained jurisdictions — will incur administrative burdens and staffing costs to prepare, update, publish, and implement plans and may struggle to meet deadlines or match grant requirements.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Introduced September 16, 2025 by Joseph Morelle · Last progress September 16, 2025
Requires States that receive Help America Vote Act (HAVA) funds to prepare, update, retain, and (subject to security/privacy limits) publish continuity-of-operations plans for running Federal elections during covered major disasters. Creates a new grant program at the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to fund election resiliency activities and authorizes $20 million per year for FY2026–FY2030. Requires a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study on disaster effects on voter registration and options for federal support, with a report due by September 30, 2026. Sets deadlines and retention rules for plans (initial plans due September 30, 2028; updates and five-year cycles through 2043), defines “covered major disaster,” limits certain uses of grant funds (e.g., litigation/judgments), and directs public posting of plans except where publication would disclose PII or threaten security or public safety.