Sponsor
Lauren Boebert
Representative · R-CO
Representative · R-CO
The bill aims to strengthen voter-list accuracy by requiring documentary proof and enabling removal of noncitizens—rewarding compliant states with preserved highway funds—but does so at substantial risk of disenfranchising eligible voters, imposing administrative and legal costs, and threatening transportation funding for noncompliant states.
State and local governments (and thereby taxpayers) that adopt the bill's documentary-proof requirements avoid annual withholding of a portion of Federal highway apportionments beginning in FY2027, preserving transportation funding.
People who lack the specified documents (including many immigrants and low-income applicants) retain a pathway to register through a required State alternative process, reducing the risk that the rule fully blocks registration for those individuals.
States are authorized to identify and remove noncitizens from voter rolls, which proponents argue will improve voter list accuracy and public confidence in elections.
Millions of eligible voters—especially mail registrants and people lacking the specified documents (including many immigrants, low-income individuals, and students)—could face added barriers that reduce registration and electoral participation.
States that do not adopt the documentary-proof rules risk substantial cuts to highway funding (10% initial withholding, rising by 5 percentage points), which could delay or cancel road projects and raise costs for local governments and drivers.
The bill creates new criminal penalties and enables private lawsuits that could lead to prosecutions or litigation targeting election officials and volunteers, increasing legal risk and administrative costs for election administrators.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Conditions annual federal highway apportionment withholding on states enacting specific documentary proof-of-citizenship voter-registration laws beginning FY2027.
Official title: To amend title 23, United States Code, to withhold apportioned surface transportation funding from a State if such State fails to enact certain requirements for proof of citizenship for individuals to register to vote in Federal elections, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 23, 2026 by Lauren Boebert · Last progress July 23, 2026
Withholds a portion of federal highway formula funds from states that do not adopt strict documentary proof-of-citizenship rules for voter registration beginning in fiscal year 2027. It creates a stepwise withholding (10% the first year, +5 percentage points each subsequent year) tied to several required state election rules, including in-person proof for mail registrants, removal of noncitizens from rolls, criminal penalties for registering without proof, a private right of action, and an alternative process for applicants who cannot provide documentation. The bill conditions Department of Transportation highway apportionments on state compliance, establishes ongoing noncitizen-identification programs, and adds criminal and civil enforcement mechanisms aimed at preventing noncitizen registration. States that do not enact the specified documentary-citizenship laws face escalating cuts to a portion of their section 104(b) highway apportionment starting FY2027.