Protect our Ballots Act of 2026
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Protect our Ballots Act of 2026 requires a tax-exempt organization described in section 501(c)(3) to participate in E-Verify when it pays an individual for personal services for a political purpose, political management, or a political campaign. A covered nonprofit must elect participation under the existing E-Verify statute and comply with the program's terms and conditions.
The bill does not require every nonprofit to use E-Verify. Its new mandate is triggered by paid political or campaign services. The text also does not cover unpaid volunteers through this provision and does not itself create a citizenship requirement; E-Verify checks employment authorization under the existing program.
Who Benefits and How
Covered nonprofit employers gain a federal process for checking the work authorization of paid political personnel. Federal employment-verification officers gain mandatory participation from a newly specified employer category. Work-authorized campaign employees may benefit from consistent verification rules, although any erroneous mismatch can create delay.
Who Bears the Burden and How
501(c)(3) organizations that pay for covered political services must enroll, submit worker information, follow E-Verify procedures, and address tentative nonconfirmations. Nonprofit human-resources officers and campaign managers must determine which paid services trigger the mandate. Paid political workers must supply verification information and may need to contest a mismatch. E-Verify program administrators must support and monitor the added participants.
Key Provisions
- Expands mandatory E-Verify participation to specified 501(c)(3) organizations.
- Applies when a nonprofit pays an individual for covered political or campaign services.
- Requires the organization to elect participation under the existing E-Verify program.
- Requires compliance with all terms and conditions of that election.
- Limits the new rule to paid personal services rather than every nonprofit activity.
- Uses employment authorization verification rather than creating a separate citizenship test.
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
Requires tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations that pay individuals for political services, political management, or campaign work to enroll in E-Verify and comply with its conditions.
Key Policy Areas
Employment Verification, Nonprofit Organizations, Political Campaigns, Immigration Compliance, Tax-Exempt Organizations
Primary Purpose
Requires tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations that pay individuals for political services, political management, or campaign work to enroll in E-Verify and comply with its conditions.
Policy Domains
Section 2 E-Verify requirement for paid nonprofit political work
Identified Gains
- Nonprofit employers verifying paid political workers
- Federal employment-verification officers
- Work-authorized political campaign employees
- E-Verify compliance programs
Identified Costs
- 501(c)(3) organizations paying political workers
- Nonprofit human-resources officers
- Nonprofit campaign managers
- Paid political workers undergoing verification
- E-Verify program administrators
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition …
Introduced in House
Mr. Alford introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
501(c)(3) organizations paying political workers, Nonprofit employers verifying paid political workers, Nonprofit human-resources officers
Nonprofit campaign managers, Paid political workers undergoing verification, Work-authorized political campaign employees
E-Verify program administrators, Federal employment-verification officers
Positive-direction: Federal employment-verification officers
Negative-direction: E-Verify program administrators
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "everify"
- → Federal E-Verify employment-authorization program
- "paid_worker"
- → Individual paid for political purpose, political management, or campaign services
- "covered_nonprofit"
- → Tax-exempt 501(c)(3) entity paying an individual for covered political services
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization that pays an individual for political-purpose, political-management, or campaign services.
Election into E-Verify under section 403(a) and compliance with the program's existing terms and conditions.
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