Sponsors (9)
The bill aims to strengthen ballot integrity and uniformity by restricting most third‑party ballot collection while preserving family/caregiver assistance — but it risks reducing practical ballot access for voters who rely on community or volunteer help and imposing funding, administrative, and legal burdens on states.
State and local election systems face reduced risk of ballot mishandling or tampering because the bill discourages third‑party collection and narrows who may collect/return mailed ballots.
Voters who have family members, household members, or caregivers retain a clear, protected option to have trusted persons collect and return their ballots, preserving access for many people with disabilities and seniors.
State governments receiving federal funds are incentivized to adopt more consistent ballot-return rules because the bill links federal election-administration funding to compliance, encouraging greater uniformity across participating states.
Voters who lack family/caregivers—particularly low‑income, rural, homebound, or otherwise isolated individuals—may lose community or volunteer ballot‑return assistance, making it harder for them to return absentee ballots and potentially reducing turnout.
States that refuse or fail to adopt the required ban risk losing federal election‑administration funds, which could disrupt election operations, voter services, or preparedness in noncompliant states.
Implementing, monitoring, and defending new prohibitions and exceptions will increase administrative complexity and legal costs for state and local election officials and may raise costs for taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Conditions federal election administration funds on state laws banning most third‑party collection/transmission of mailed ballots, with narrow exceptions for officials, carriers, family/household members, and caregivers.
Introduced February 4, 2026 by Chuck Edwards · Last progress February 4, 2026
Conditions federal spending for administering federal elections on states adopting laws that ban third-party collection and delivery of mailed (absentee) ballots except for election officials, postal/carrier employees acting in their duties, other mail-authorized employees acting in their duties, or a family member, household member, or caregiver of the voter. It adds this condition to the Help America Vote Act and defines who counts as a family member, household member, and caregiver for the exception.