Sponsors (9)
The bill aims to boost voter registration, assistance, and ballot-counting for service members and overseas voters through studies and coordination, at the cost of added administrative work and potential increases in federal or military spending.
Service members and their families will get improved access to voter registration information and assistance, plus better-coordinated Voting Assistance Officers, increasing their ability to register and have overseas/absent-uniformed ballots successfully cast and counted.
State and local election officials and the Department of Defense will receive a GAO report identifying causes of ballot rejections and transmission problems, enabling targeted fixes to increase the share of absentee ballots from absent uniformed voters that are counted.
Congress and military leaders will get cost estimates for meeting service members' voting needs, providing clearer budget information to fund needed improvements.
Taxpayers may face increased federal or military spending if recommendations require new resources for outreach, staffing, or ballot transmission improvements.
State and local election offices and military departments will incur additional administrative burdens and staff time to coordinate, participate in the study, and implement recommendations.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Directs the GAO to study and report on federal implementation of absentee voting for service members and their families, including recommendations and cost estimates.
Requires the Government Accountability Office to review how federal law is being carried out to help members of the Armed Forces and their families vote from abroad or while absent, and to study ways to improve voter registration and ballot access. The GAO must analyze ballot transmission and return, ballot rejection reasons, the effectiveness of military voting assistance, and identify actions each service could take with cost estimates, then report findings to two congressional committees by September 30, 2027.
Introduced July 21, 2025 by Laurel Lee · Last progress July 21, 2025