Voter Empowerment Act of 2026
Sponsored By: Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
Introduced
Summary
This bill would make registering and voting easier and more secure by requiring online and automatic voter registration and by updating accessibility, paper-ballot, and mail-voting rules.
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- Voters and registrants: States would have to offer continuous online registration on official websites, accept electronic signatures or uploads, and run automatic registration transfers from DMVs, Medicaid, Social Security, Veterans Affairs, colleges, and other agencies. It also creates same-day registration, allows processing for people age 16 and older for future eligibility, and requires written notices when voting rights are restored after convictions.
- People with disabilities and older voters: States must create a single accessible chief election website that meets WCAG 2.0 AA and ensure at least one accessible voting system at each polling place. The bill funds pilots and grants for secure remote accessible voting and authorizes $10 million for accessibility studies.
- Mail, overseas, and absentee voters: The bill sets uniform absentee rules with a 10-day cure period for signature defects, a 10-day acceptance window for postmarked ballots, prepaid postage and self-sealing return envelopes, ballot tracking reimbursement, and tighter UOCAVA deadlines and reporting.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
16 provisions identified: 15 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
Accessible voting for seniors and disabled
If enacted, the bill would require states to improve voting access for people with disabilities and older voters. States would provide at least one accessible voting system at each polling place that produces a voter-verified paper ballot and allows private, independent verification. The EAC could award grants for at-home remote voting pilots for people with disabilities (first pilots cover 2027 elections). HAVA accessibility funds would be reauthorized starting in fiscal year 2027 to help states pay for accessible absentee and polling-place improvements.
Early voting, waits, poll staffing rules
This would set a national early‑voting floor: in‑person early voting must start at least 15 days before a federal election and run through election day, with each site open at least 10 hours per day and including some time before 9:00 a.m. and after 5:00 p.m. States would have to provide enough machines, workers, and resources so no one waits more than 30 minutes, publish EAC guidelines, and post notices when polling places move. The EAC could give grants to states to recruit and train poll workers, and States must post emergency voting plans within 90 days of enactment.
Mail, absentee, and drop-box rules
This would expand and standardize absentee voting and returns for federal elections. States must accept ballots postmarked or shown mailed on or before election day if received within 10 days, allow many return options (drop boxes, in-person, a designated returner not paid per ballot), and provide prepaid self-sealing return envelopes. Voters could apply for absentee ballots online and, if a valid online request arrives at least 5 business days before the election, must receive their ballot before election day. States would also have to run absentee-ballot tracking programs and could get EAC reimbursement up to $3,000 per jurisdiction.
Paper ballot and system safeguards
This would require voter‑verified, durable paper ballots for federal elections beginning in 2028. Systems must let you inspect and verify a paper ballot, offer hand‑marking options, and preserve paper ballots as the official record for recounts and audits. Ballots used in federal elections would have to be printed in the United States on U.S.-made paper, and some States could get limited phase‑in waivers until 2029 or 2030 with special hand‑marking and notice requirements.
Paper ballot standards and audits
If enacted, voter-verified paper ballots for federal elections would have to be printed on durable paper that retains markings for 22 months and can survive multiple hand counts. Ballots produced by ballot-marking devices would have to be clearly readable by voters and by assistive reading devices. For federal elections in 2028 and later, paper ballots must be suitable for manual audit and hand counts; hand-counted paper ballots would be treated as the correct record where they differ from electronic tallies.
Tougher bans on election deception
If enacted, the bill would make it a federal crime to corruptly interfere with voter registration or to knowingly spread materially false information about when, where, or how to vote within 60 days before a covered federal election. Violations and attempts could bring fines (up to $100,000) and prison time (up to 5 years). The bill would ban voter-caging challenges based only on returned-mail lists or unverified match lists and let people file notarized complaints with the Attorney General and sue under federal civil-rights law to enforce certain voting-machine and administration rules for federal elections in 2027 and later.
Modern online and automatic registration
This would require every State to offer public online voter registration starting January 1, 2027 and to run automatic voter registration that signs up eligible people unless they opt out. Agencies would send records and States must finish automatic registrations within 15 days and notify people within 120 days. The bill would also protect people who were automatically registered from immigration or criminal penalties for registration errors, let new drivers pick their voting residence, allow same-day registration at polling places starting November 2028, but require a handwritten signature for some first-time online registrants.
Election oversight and EAC changes
If enacted, the bill would reauthorize Election Assistance Commission funding starting in fiscal year 2026 and remove a prior $10 million per-year cap. The EAC Board of Advisors would grow and add members representing disability and older-voter groups starting January 1, 2027. The bill would bar chief state election officials from active partisan campaign roles for federal elections they oversee after December 2026 and clarify that the title does not override other federal voting laws or stop states from giving more voting opportunities.
Military and overseas absentee fixes
If enacted, states would have to send blank absentee ballots electronically to certain qualified requesters for the November 2028 general election and later (this transmission rule excludes absent uniformed services and overseas voters in one place but imposes other protections). If a state misses the 45-day absentee transmission deadline for absent uniformed services or overseas voters, it must use express delivery or pay to send the ballot electronically or by express mail and enable express return. The bill would repeal a prior waiver of the 45-day rule and give the Attorney General new civil-enforcement authority and fines for UOCAVA violations (fines up to $110,000 first, $220,000 subsequent for violations after enactment).
Notices and rights for restored voters
This would require States and federal prison/probation authorities to notify people in writing when their right to vote is restored and to give them voter‑registration materials. The Attorney General could sue to enforce the Democracy Restoration Act, and individuals could notify the State official and sue on a sped‑up timetable if the problem is not fixed (90 days normally, 20 days within 120 days of an election, and immediate suits within 30 days before an election).
Restore voting rights and guardianship
If enacted, people with past felony convictions could not be denied the right to vote in federal elections unless they are serving a felony sentence in a correctional institution on election day. Residential community treatment centers would not count as correctional institutions. States that receive federal prison-construction funds would need inmate-notification programs to tell released inmates about their voting rights. The bill would also prevent states from removing voting rights solely because a person has a guardian; a court could only find incapacity to vote by clear and convincing evidence that the person cannot communicate a voting choice even with accommodations. These rules apply after enactment, and the guardianship rule applies to federal elections on or after January 1, 2027.
Tools to stop false election information
This would let the Attorney General send accurate corrections to the public if materially false election information is not fixed by state or local officials. It would also create a private federal right to sue to stop deceptive election messages and require the EAC to publish best practices and HAVA guidance within 180 days. The bill clarifies these federal steps add to, but do not replace, existing state or federal voting protections.
Tribal lands voting pickup and enforcement
This would let Indian Tribes name one building per precinct on Indian lands as a free ballot pickup and collection site. States would have to collect ballots from those sites, provide ballots to registered people on Indian lands without a residential address, and give language assistance where required. The Attorney General and private parties could sue to enforce these Indian‑lands accommodations starting with the November 2028 federal election.
Easier registration and privacy rules
If enacted, states would have to treat mostly completed registration forms as valid and email voters who provided an email address with polling-place info at least 7 days before a federal election. Motor vehicle and the national mail registration forms could only ask for the last four digits of your Social Security number (starting January 1, 2027). States could only remove voters using interstate cross-checks if matches include full name, date of birth, and the last four SSN digits, after a six-month transition period.
Student and campus voter support
If enacted, federal student-aid colleges would have to help students register and provide nonpartisan registration materials. Covered colleges must name a Campus Vote Coordinator and send registration information at least 30 days before registration deadlines. The Secretary of Education could award grants to colleges that show strong student registration work. Students could meet state ID rules by using a student ID, and a preprinted sworn statement would be made available for absentee and in-person voting.
Grants for remote voting and youth outreach
This would authorize EAC grants to study and develop accessible, secure remote‑voting technology (at least three projects) with a $10 million authorization and require the work to be non‑proprietary. It would also authorize $25 million in two‑year grants to States to boost youth civic engagement and a one‑year pilot to give voter info to 12th graders (funding as needed). Recipients must report on results.
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Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Kirsten Gillibrand
NY • D
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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