Sponsors (6)
The bill expands voter-registration access by using the tax-preparation ecosystem—helping many, especially those served by volunteer sites—while imposing new compliance burdens and leaving gaps for clients of smaller preparers, creating a trade-off between broader access and administrative/coverage limitations.
Taxpayers who use tax-preparation services (in-person and online) will have easier access to voter registration materials because preparers must display forms and/or provide prominent links, lowering friction to register or update registration.
Clients of funded volunteer tax sites (VITA/TCE)—often low-income, elderly, or language-limited—will get more reliable access to registration forms and guidance, improving registration opportunities for underserved populations.
Users of online tax-preparation services will see a prominent link to the official mail voter-registration form, making remote registration simpler and reducing confusion about where to get an authorized form.
Clients of small or local preparers (those preparing fewer than 100 returns) are excluded from the requirement, so some taxpayers—often in rural or underserved communities—will not receive the new registration access benefit.
Tax return preparers will face new compliance costs and administrative burdens to display forms, add links, and follow EAC/Treasury rules; some costs could be passed to clients or reduce small-practice viability.
Regulatory complexity and uncertainty about obligations or liability (including carve-outs) could produce inconsistent implementation or discourage some preparers from participating fully, reducing the law's practical effectiveness.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Treats most paid tax return preparers as state-designated voter registration agencies required to distribute voter registration forms, with exemptions and implementation rules.
Introduced March 26, 2026 by Bonnie Watson Coleman · Last progress March 26, 2026
Designates most paid tax return preparers in a State as places that must distribute voter registration application forms, making tax-preparation visits another routine way for filers to get registration forms. It exempts small preparers (fewer than 100 individual returns in the current or prior year) and certified volunteer preparers funded under the Treasury’s VITA/TCE programs, and directs the Election Assistance Commission (with Treasury) to write implementing rules. The Treasury Secretary must also update volunteer-site intake forms to ask if clients want a voter registration form and require funded volunteer sites to prominently display registration forms. The rule applies to tax years after December 2021.