Congress moves to restore mail voting, block federal election database

What it does

This bill repeals Executive Order 14399, which required states to create citizenship verification lists for federal elections and restricted mail ballot delivery. It also prohibits federal agencies and the Postal Service from using federal funds to create national voter databases, regulate mail-in ballots, compel states to produce voter registration lists, or share voter registration data between agencies. The bill asserts that Congress, not the President, has constitutional authority over federal election administration.

Why we flagged it

The bill's operative mechanism is to repeal an executive order restricting mail voting and to block federal agencies from creating centralized voter databases or interfering with state election administration. This is fundamentally a voting-access and federalism measure, not a market-affecting provision.

What the text implies

• The bill's findings extensively document that mail voting has been used successfully for over 200 years and by millions of Americans in recent elections, establishing a factual record that may be cited in future litigation challenging voting restrictions.
• By prohibiting federal funds for 'similar orders,' the bill creates a statutory bar that would require future executive action to overcome through new legislation, raising the procedural cost of any future federal election centralization.
• The prohibition on DOJ enforcement of voter list production under the Help America Vote Act and Civil Rights Act may limit federal oversight of state voter roll maintenance, a function previously used to ensure accuracy and prevent purges.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill protects voting access by repealing restrictions on mail ballots and preventing federal agencies from creating centralized voter databases or compelling state voter list production. It preserves the ability of millions of Americans—including military voters, overseas citizens, and those in states with no-excuse absentee voting—to vote by mail without federal interference.

Named in the bill

Executive Order 14399, Department of Homeland Security, Social Security Administration, Department of Justice, Department of Commerce, United States Postal Service, National Voter Registration Act of 1993, Help America Vote Act of 2002, Election Assistance Commission, Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act

Where it stands

40 cosponsors: 38 Democrats, 2 Independents.

• Apr 22, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• Apr 22, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Rules and Administration · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

3 lobbying clients named this bill on 3 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $1,470,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 50 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 61% of bills with at least one filing.

Alex Padilla, the sponsor, reported $176,500 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• AFL-CIO — $760,000 on 1 filing
• National Education Association — $670,000 on 1 filing
• Transparency International U.S. (a Project of the Fund for Constitutional Govt) — $40,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 22, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.