HR4910-119

What This Bill Does

The Sustaining Our Democracy Act creates a large federal election-administration financing system. It establishes the Democracy Advancement and Innovation Program, an independent Office of Democracy Advancement and Innovation, and a State Election Assistance and Innovation Trust Fund funded at $2,500,000,000 for each fiscal year from 2026 through 2035. States receive annual allocations for election infrastructure, voting equipment, voter registration systems, nonpartisan outreach, secure voting locations, early and mail voting capacity, cybersecurity, election worker recruitment and retention, threat protection, and access for underserved communities, disabled voters, racial and language minority voters, overseas and military voters, and voters on Indian lands. States must file detailed plans and are barred from using program money for voter suppression, intimidation, unreliable voter-roll removals, unsafe audits, or voting systems without voter-verifiable paper ballots.

Who Benefits and How

State election offices benefit from predictable annual federal allocations for election infrastructure, cybersecurity, staffing, and voter access. Local election administrators benefit because state plans can fund voting equipment, polling places, poll workers, and threat protection. Voters in underserved communities benefit from grant conditions requiring access improvements for communities with geographic, racial, language, disability, military, overseas, or Indian lands barriers. Election workers benefit from funding for recruitment, training, retention, and protection from threats.

Who Bears the Burden and How

State election offices must submit detailed annual plans, operate complaint procedures, and comply with program restrictions. The Office of Democracy Advancement and Innovation must administer allocations, consult with EAC, oversee the trust fund, and report to Congress. State officials restricted by program conditions cannot use funds for practices that reduce participation, intimidate voters, or weaken paper-ballot safeguards. Federal taxpayers bear the cost of the $2,500,000,000 annual trust fund appropriation.

Key Provisions

• Creates the Democracy Advancement and Innovation Program for state election administration funding.
• Establishes an independent Office of Democracy Advancement and Innovation to administer the program.
• Appropriates $2,500,000,000 per fiscal year from 2026 through 2035 into the trust fund.
• Requires state plans covering election infrastructure, cybersecurity, outreach, staffing, worker protection, and access for underserved voters.
• Bars funded activities that suppress participation, intimidate voters, undermine reliable voter rolls, or use voting systems without voter-verifiable paper ballots.