Climate Resilient Elections Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The bill defines congressional findings establishing that election infrastructure is critical national security infrastructure and documenting the impact of natural disasters (Hurricane Sandy, California wildfires) on election, amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require states receiving federal election grants to submit and maintain continuity of operations plans for election administration during disasters, and requires specifies requirements for state continuity of operations plans including submission deadline (Sept 30, 2028), mandatory updates every 5 years through 2043, 5-year retention requirements, and public. It relies on reporting requirements, compliance mandates, definition changes, and grants. The main policy areas are Elections, Trade, and Education.
Who Benefits and How
State election offices could gain revenue opportunities, Voting equipment manufacturers and vendors could gain revenue opportunities, and Election technology consultants could gain revenue opportunities.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Election Assistance Commission would take on compliance duties, State election agencies receiving federal HAVA funding would take on compliance duties, and State election agencies would take on compliance duties.
Key Provisions
- Defines congressional findings establishing that election infrastructure is critical national security infrastructure and documenting the impact of natural disasters (Hurricane Sandy, California wildfires) on election...
- Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require states receiving federal election grants to submit and maintain continuity of operations plans for election administration during disasters.
- Requires specifies requirements for state continuity of operations plans including submission deadline (Sept 30, 2028), mandatory updates every 5 years through 2043, 5-year retention requirements, and public...
- Requires the GAO to study natural disasters effects on voter registration, analyze federal assistance options for state/local election administration during disasters, and identify needed legislative authorizations.
- Authorizes $100 million in Election Assistance Commission grants over five years (FY2026-2030, $20M per year) for states to strengthen election infrastructure against climate-driven disasters.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
The bill defines congressional findings establishing that election infrastructure is critical national security infrastructure and documenting the impact of natural disasters (Hurricane Sandy, California wildfires) on election, amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require states receiving federal election grants to submit and maintain continuity of operations plans for election administration during disasters, and requires specifies requirements for state continuity of operations plans including submission deadline (Sept 30, 2028), mandatory updates every 5 years through 2043, 5-year retention requirements, and public.
Key Policy Areas
Elections, Trade, Education
Primary Purpose
The bill defines congressional findings establishing that election infrastructure is critical national security infrastructure and documenting the impact of natural disasters (Hurricane Sandy, California wildfires) on election, amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require states receiving federal election grants to submit and maintain continuity of operations plans for election administration during disasters, and requires specifies requirements for state continuity of operations plans including submission deadline (Sept 30, 2028), mandatory updates every 5 years through 2043, 5-year retention requirements, and public.
Policy Domains
Strengthening Elections Against Climate Disasters
Identified Gains
- State election offices
- Voting equipment manufacturers and vendors
- Election technology consultants
- Poll worker training organizations
Identified Costs
- Election Assistance Commission
- State election agencies receiving federal HAVA funding
- State election agencies
- Government Accountability Office
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMr. Morelle (for himself, Ms. Sewell, Mrs. Torres of California, …
Referred to the House Committee on House Administration.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Election Assistance Commission, Government Accountability Office, State election agencies
Positive-direction: State election offices
Negative-direction: Election Assistance Commission, Government Accountability Office, State election agencies, State election agencies receiving federal HAVA funding
Election technology consultants
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_commission"
- → Election Assistance Commission
- "the_comptroller_general"
- → Comptroller General of the United States (GAO)
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A major disaster as defined in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122)
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology