Sustaining Our Democracy Act

This bill creates a national program that gives yearly funding to states and local election offices to improve how federal elections work and to help more people vote. Money can upgrade voting machines and voter registration systems, expand polling places and early/mail voting, boost cybersecurity, and support nonpartisan voter outreach. It also funds recruiting, training, and protecting election workers, and improving access for underserved communities, people with disabilities, racial and language minorities, military and overseas voters, and voters on tribal lands. States must file a public plan explaining how they will use the money, how they will share it with local areas, and how they’ll address geographic and racial gaps; they may save funds for future years .

The money comes from a new Trust Fund with $2.5 billion each year from 2026 through 2035, overseen by a new Office of Democracy Advancement and Innovation that runs the program with the Election Assistance Commission . Each state’s share is based on its number of congressional districts; after a plan is approved, the Election Assistance Commission pays local election administrators and the state, and the funds don’t expire . The bill also bans using these funds to make voting harder—such as intimidating voters or election workers, restricting food or water for voters in line, unreliable voter roll purges, defending voter‑suppression lawsuits, baseless “fraud” investigations, substandard audits, or buying voting machines without voter‑verifiable paper ballots. The program starts with fiscal year 2026, and plans and reports must be posted online for the public to see.

• Who is affected: Voters (especially underserved groups, people with disabilities, racial and language minorities, military/overseas voters, and voters on tribal lands), election workers, and state and local election offices.
• What changes: Yearly state funding for election upgrades; a new federal office to manage it; a formula tied to congressional districts; public state plans and reports; a complaint process for the public; and clear bans on using funds for actions that suppress votes or buy paperless machines .
• When: Starts in fiscal year 2026, with $2.5 billion per year through 2035 .