Bill lets people with crime convictions vote in federal races
H.R. 9873 — Inclusive Democracy Act of 2026 · Filed by Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) · 13 cosponsors · Introduced Jul 22, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
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What it does
The bill says people convicted of crimes can vote in federal races. States and courts must tell convicted people about their voting rights. Prisons and jails must let people sign up to vote. People can ask for mail-in ballots. The bill covers all past convictions and starts for November 2026.
Who it affects
People with crime convictions gain the right to vote in federal races. Election staff and prison workers must set up new voting systems. They must tell people of their rights.
One thing to notice
The bill applies to all past convictions, not new ones. About 5.2 million Americans with felony convictions may become able to vote.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
13 cosponsors: 13 Democrats.
- Jul 22, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jul 22, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on House Administration and House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on House Administration, for a…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- convicted — Found guilty of a crime by a court
- felony convictions — Serious crimes that a court found someone guilty of
- mail-in ballots — A way to vote by mail when you cannot go in person
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (21,984 characters) on Aug 12, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,707 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-23.
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