Sponsors (15)
The bill expands voter access and convenience (especially via automatic DMV registration and broader mail voting) but shifts significant administrative, postal, legal, and privacy burdens to states, the USPS, and taxpayers, creating a trade-off between wider participation and implementation cost, capacity, and legal risks.
Eligible but unregistered voters will be automatically registered when they apply for or update a driver's license, and registrations/address updates will be transmitted more quickly to election officials with a uniform attestation to deter fraud.
Low-income, rural, busy voters and people with disabilities will gain easier, more private and independent access to vote because of expanded vote-by-mail, earlier mail-outs, and shorter in-person lines.
All voters and election officials will get blank and returned ballots carried postage-free and expeditiously by USPS, and voters will receive mail ballots at least two weeks before federal elections, reducing postage costs and speeding delivery.
State and local election offices and the USPS will face significant implementation and ongoing administrative/logistical costs to run large-scale mail voting, meet mandated timelines, provide free carriage, and change DMV processes.
The USPS could experience operational strain and require additional funding or logistical changes to handle increased ballot volume, risking delays or added costs for postal operations.
Federal uniform mail-voting and registration rules will reduce state flexibility and are likely to trigger partisan disputes and litigation, creating legal uncertainty and implementation delays for state and local officials.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Requires States to mail ballots to registered voters for Federal elections, bans extra mail-vote conditions, makes ballot mailings postage-free, and expands DMV-based automatic registration.
Introduced May 22, 2025 by Ronald Lee Wyden · Last progress May 22, 2025
Requires States to send mail ballots to all registered voters for Federal elections, bans extra state conditions on voting by mail, and makes both blank and returned mail ballots postage-free. It also requires motor-vehicle offices to offer a streamlined voter registration option and allows automatic registration in certain cases. The mail-ballot rules take effect for Federal elections in years beginning 2026; the motor-vehicle registration changes take effect 180 days after enactment.