Sponsors (9)
The bill tightens controls on third-party ballot collection to strengthen ballot integrity and encourage uniform state rules, at the cost of reducing third-party and community return options for vulnerable voters and imposing new administrative, legal, and funding burdens on states.
State and local election officials gain clearer federal authority to prohibit third-party ballot collection, reducing risks of ballot mishandling or tampering and improving chain-of-custody protections.
Family members, household members, and caregivers are explicitly allowed to collect and transmit mailed ballots, preserving ballot-return options for voters who need direct assistance.
Linking federal election funding to adoption of consistent state rules may encourage more uniform ballot-return practices across states that receive federal support.
Voters who rely on third-party or community assistance—low-income, rural, homebound, elderly, or disabled individuals—could lose trusted ways to return ballots, making it harder for them to vote and potentially reducing turnout.
States and local election officials may face increased administrative, legal, and financial burdens (drafting and enforcing new rules, defending litigation) and risk losing federal election-administration funds if they do not comply, potentially disrupting election operations and raising costs for taxpayers.
Federal discouragement or bans on third-party collection could politicize routine voter-assistance programs and create confusion about lawful ways to return ballots, producing uncertainty for voters and election administrators.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Conditions federal HAVA election funds on states banning third‑party collection/transmission of mailed ballots except for specified permitted categories.
Official title: To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to prohibit the use of Federal funds for election administration in States that permit ballot harvesting.
Introduced February 4, 2026 by Chuck Edwards · Last progress February 4, 2026
Conditions federal election funding on states adopting laws that ban third-party collection and transmission of mailed ballots except for narrow categories (election officials, postal/carrier employees, certain mail-authorized agents, and a voter’s family/household members or caregiver). It defines those allowable categories and ties federal Help America Vote Act funds for federal election administration to state compliance with that prohibition.