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.
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill amends the Help America Vote Act to condition federal election-administration funding on state ballot-collection rules. A state could not use federal funds to administer federal elections unless state law prohibits a person from knowingly collecting and transmitting a mailed ballot sent to someone else. The bill permits exceptions for election officials acting in official duties, USPS employees or commercial carriers, other authorized mail carriers, and the voter's family member, household member, or caregiver. The findings frame the restriction as a chain-of-custody and undue-influence response to ballot harvesting concerns and cite Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee.
Who Benefits and How
Election-integrity advocates, voters concerned about ballot custody, state lawmakers favoring ballot-collection restrictions, election officials in compliant states, family members, household members, and caregivers benefit because the bill ties federal election money to narrower ballot-handling rules while preserving explicit exceptions for close household or care relationships and official mail or election duties.
Who Bears the Burden and How
States permitting broader ballot collection must amend state law or lose access to federal election-administration funds. State election offices and local election administrators must verify compliance with the new HAVA condition before using federal money. Voting-access organizations and voters who rely on community ballot collection must adjust ballot-return plans, and caregivers or family members may need to document that their collection fits a statutory exception.
Key Provisions
- Adds a Help America Vote Act condition barring federal election-administration funds in states that allow most third-party collection of mailed ballots.
- Requires states to prohibit knowing collection and transmission of another person's mailed ballot unless a statutory exception applies.
- Provides exceptions for election officials, USPS or commercial carriers, lawful mail carriers, family members, household members, and caregivers.
- Defines caregiver, family member, and household member for the ballot-collection exception.
- Uses findings on ballot chain of custody, home electioneering concerns, and the Supreme Court's Brnovich decision to justify the funding condition.
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
Cuts off federal election-administration funds to states unless they prohibit most third-party collection and transmission of mailed ballots, with exceptions for election officials, mail carriers, family members, household members, and caregivers.
Key Policy Areas
Elections, Federal Grants, State & Local Government
Primary Purpose
Cuts off federal election-administration funds to states unless they prohibit most third-party collection and transmission of mailed ballots, with exceptions for election officials, mail carriers, family members, household members, and caregivers.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Election integrity advocates
- Election officials in compliant states
- Family members
- Household members
- Caregivers
- USPS employees
Identified Costs
- States permitting ballot collection
- State election offices
- Local election administrators
- Voting access organizations
- Voters using community ballot collection
- Caregivers
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the House Committee on House Administration.
Introduced in House
Mr. Edwards (for himself, Mr. Onder, Mr. McDowell, Ms. Tenney, …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Election officials in compliant states, Local election administrators, State election offices
Positive-direction: Election officials in compliant states
Negative-direction: Local election administrators, State election offices, States permitting ballot collection
Family members, Household members, Voters using community ballot collection
Positive-direction: Family members, Household members
Negative-direction: Voters using community ballot collection
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
An individual providing medical or health care assistance in a residence or care facility for the ballot recipient.
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