Full Text
Official text as published. Use Ctrl+F / Cmd+F to search within the document.
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10802 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 10802
To direct heads of Federal agencies to support increased access to
voting, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 13, 2026
Mr. Olszewski (for himself and Ms. McBride) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and
in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform,
Science, Space, and Technology, Armed Services, and the Judiciary, for
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct heads of Federal agencies to support increased access to
voting, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Agency Support for Secure and
Universal Registration Enhancement Act'' or the ``ASSURE Act''.
SEC. 2. CONSIDERATION OF AND STRATEGIC PLAN REGARDING VOTER
REGISTRATION AND PARTICIPATION.
(a) Promotion of Voter Registration and Participation.--The head of
each appropriate agency shall evaluate ways that the relevant agency
can, as appropriate, promote voter registration and voter
participation, including by considering--
(1) ways to provide relevant information in the course of
activities or services that directly engage with the public
(including through agency materials, websites, online forms,
social media platforms, and other points of public access)
about how to register to vote, how to request a vote-by-mail
ballot, and how to cast a ballot in upcoming elections;
(2) ways to facilitate seamless transition from agency
websites directly to State online voter registration systems or
appropriate Federal websites such as Vote.gov;
(3) ways to provide access to voter registration services
and vote-by-mail ballot applications in the course of
activities or services that directly engage with the public,
including by--
(A) distributing voter registration and vote-by-
mail ballot application forms and providing access to
applicable State online voter registration systems;
(B) assisting applicants in completing voter
registration and vote-by-mail ballot application forms
in a manner consistent with relevant State laws; and
(C) soliciting and facilitating covered nonprofit
organizations and State officials to provide voter
registration services on agency premises;
(4) ways to promote and expand access to multilingual voter
registration and election information, and to promote equal
participation in the electoral process for eligible United
States citizens of all backgrounds; and
(5) whether, consistent with applicable law, any identity
documents issued by the agency to members of the public can be
issued in a form that satisfies State voter identification
laws.
(b) Strategic Plan.--Not later than 200 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the head of each appropriate agency shall submit
to the President and Congress a strategic plan outlining ways to
promote voter registration and voter participation identified pursuant
to the evaluation required in subsection (a).
(c) Improvement of Federal Websites.--The Administrator of the
Office of Electronic Government in the Office of Management and Budget
shall coordinate efforts across agencies to improve or modernize
Federal websites and digital services that provide Federal election and
voting information, including ensuring that Federal websites are
accessible to individuals with disabilities and individuals with
limited English proficiency.
(d) United States Digital Service Support.--As appropriate, the
Administrator of the United States Digital Service may support agencies
in implementing the strategic plans required in subsection (a).
SEC. 3. DESIGNATION UNDER THE NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION ACT.
(a) Voter Registration Agency Designation.--
(1) Designation agreement.--Each agency, if requested by a
State to be designated as a voter registration agency pursuant
to section 7(a)(3)(B)(ii) of the National Voter Registration
Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20506(a)(3)(B)(ii)), shall, to the
greatest extent practicable, agree to such designation.
(2) Designation declined.--If an agency declines to consent
to such designation, the head of the agency shall submit to the
President and Congress a written explanation for the decision
to decline.
(b) Agreement to Designation Where Services Are Provided.--The head
of each agency shall evaluate where and how the agency provides
services that directly engage with the public and, to the greatest
extent practicable, notify each State in which the agency provides such
services that it would agree to designation as a voter registration
agency pursuant to such section 7(a)(3)(B)(ii) (52 U.S.C.
20506(a)(3)(B)(ii)).
SEC. 4. MODERNIZATION OF VOTE.GOV.
(a) In General.--The Administrator of the General Services
Administration shall modernize and improve the user experience of
Vote.gov, in coordination with the Election Assistance Commission and
appropriate Federal agencies and in consultation with affected
stakeholders, including--
(1) election administrators;
(2) civil rights and disability rights advocates;
(3) Tribal Nations; and
(4) nonprofit groups that study best practices for using
technology to promote civic engagement.
(b) Requirements.--In fulfilling the requirement in subsection (a),
the Administrator shall--
(1) ensure that Vote.gov complies, at minimum, with
sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29
U.S.C. 794 and 794d); and
(2) ensure that Vote.gov is translated into each language
spoken by a language minority group (as such term is used in
section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10503))
in the United States.
(c) Strategic Plan.--Not later than 200 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the President
and Congress a strategic plan outlining the steps to modernize and
improve the user experience of Vote.gov as required in subsection (a).
SEC. 5. VOTING OPPORTUNITIES FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.
Not later than 200 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall
coordinate with the heads of executive agencies (as such term is
defined in section 105 of title 5, United States Code) to provide
recommendations to the President, through the Assistant to the
President for Domestic Policy, on strategies to--
(1) expand the Federal Government's policy of granting
employees time off to vote in Federal, State, local, Tribal,
and territorial elections (including to participate in early
voting); and
(2) better support Federal employees who wish to volunteer
to serve as nonpartisan poll workers or nonpartisan observers,
particularly during early or extended voting periods.
SEC. 6. EQUAL ACCESS FOR VOTERS WITH DISABILITIES.
Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall publish--
(1) the steps needed to ensure that Vote.gov is accessible
to people with disabilities; and
(2) recommendations, developed in consultation with the
Department of Justice, the Election Assistance Commission, and
other agencies, as appropriate, regarding barriers to private
and independent voting for people with disabilities, including
access to voter registration, voting technology, voting by
mail, polling locations, and poll worker training.
SEC. 7. VOTING FOR ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY AND OVERSEAS CITIZENS.
(a) Annual Requirement.--Not later than 200 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall--
(1) establish procedures to affirmatively offer, on an
annual basis, each member of the Armed Forces on active duty
the opportunity to register to vote in Federal elections,
update voter registration information, or request an absentee
ballot; and
(2) evaluate the feasibility of implementing an online
system to facilitate the services described in paragraph (1).
(b) Ballot Tracking.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of Defense, in coordination
with the Department of State, the Military Postal Service
Agency, and the United States Postal Service, shall take all
practical steps to establish procedures to enable a
comprehensive end-to-end ballot tracking system for all
absentee ballots cast by absent uniformed services voters and
overseas voters (as such terms are defined in section 107 of
the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (52
U.S.C. 20310)).
(2) Strategic plan.--Not later than 200 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall
submit to the President and Congress a strategic plan for
establishing the ballot tracking system required in paragraph
(1).
(c) Agency Coordination.--
(1) In general.--The head of each agency with employees
stationed outside the United States shall designate an employee
to be responsible for coordinating with the Federal Voting
Assistance Program, including to promote voter registration and
voting services available to such employees.
(2) Office of management and budget assistance.--The
Director of the Office of Management and Budget may issue
guidance to assist agencies in making the designations required
in paragraph (1).
SEC. 8. VOTER REGISTRATION FOR ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS IN FEDERAL CUSTODY.
(a) Federal Bureau of Prisons.--
(1) In general.--The Attorney General shall establish
procedures to provide educational materials related to voter
registration and voting and, to the extent practicable, to
facilitate voter registration, for all eligible individuals in
the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
(2) Educational materials.--The educational materials
required in paragraph (1) shall--
(A) be incorporated into the reentry planning
procedures required under section 4042(a)(7) of title
18, United States Code; and
(B) notify each individual leaving Federal custody
of--
(i) any restriction on the ability of such
individual to vote under the laws of the State
where the individual resides; and
(ii) if any such restrictions exist, the
point at which such restriction will be lifted
under applicable State law.
(b) Contracts and Agreements.--The Attorney General shall establish
procedures--
(1) to ensure the United States Marshals Service includes
language in intergovernmental agreements and jail contracts to
require the jails to provide educational materials related to
voter registration and voting, and to facilitate voting by
mail, to the extent practicable and appropriate; and
(2) for coordinating with the Probation and Pretrial
Services Office of the Administrative Office of the United
States Courts to provide educational materials related to voter
registration and voting to all eligible individuals under the
supervision of the Probation and Pretrial Services Office, and
to facilitate voter registration and voting by such
individuals.
(c) Identification.--The Attorney General shall take appropriate
steps to support formerly incarcerated individuals in obtaining
identification that satisfies State voter identification laws,
including as required by section 4042(a)(6)(B) of title 18, United
States Code.
SEC. 9. NATIVE AMERICAN VOTING RIGHTS STEERING GROUP.
(a) Establishment.--There is established an Interagency Steering
Group on Native American Voting Rights (in this section referred to as
the ``Steering Group''), coordinated by the Domestic Policy Council,
which shall engage in meaningful and robust consultation with Tribal
Nations and Native leaders regarding concerns and potential areas of
focus for the report required in subsection (d).
(b) Membership.--
(1) In general.--The Steering Group shall be chaired by the
Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and shall
include the Attorney General, the Secretary of the Interior,
the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Labor, the
Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs.
(2) Optional participation.--The Chair may invite heads or
senior representatives of other agencies to participate in the
Steering Group.
(c) Consultation With Other Agencies.--The Steering Group shall
consult with agencies not represented on the Steering Group to
facilitate the sharing of information and best practices, as
appropriate.
(d) Public Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Steering Group shall make publically
available a report describing best practices for protecting voting
rights of Native Americans and outlining recommendations for providing
such protection, including recommendations for--
(1) increasing voter outreach, education, registration, and
turnout in Native American communities;
(2) increasing voting access for Native American
communities (including increasing accessibility for voters with
disabilities);
(3) mitigating internet accessibility issues that may
hinder voter registration and ballot access in Native American
communities;
(4) increasing language access and assistance for Native
American voters, including evaluating existing best practices;
(5) mitigating barriers to voting for Native Americans by
analyzing and providing guidance on how to facilitate the use
of Tribal government identification cards as valid voter
identification in Federal, State, local, Tribal, and
territorial elections;
(6) facilitating collaboration among local election
officials, Native American communities, and Tribal election
offices; and
(7) addressing other areas identified through the
consultation required in subsection (a).
(e) Administrative Support.--The Department of the Interior shall
provide administrative support for the Steering Group.
(f) Sunset.--The Steering Group established in this section shall
terminate on the day after the report is made publically available
under subsection (d).
SEC. 10. NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS AT NATURALIZATION CEREMONIES.
The Director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services shall
permit any covered nonprofit organization to provide voter registration
applications and general information regarding voting to new United
States citizens at an administrative naturalization ceremony.
SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Agency.--The term ``agency'' has the meaning given such
term in section 3502 of title 44, United States Code, except
that such term does not include any independent regulatory
agency (as such term is defined in such section).
(2) Covered nonprofit organization.--The term ``covered
nonprofit organization'' means an organization that--
(A) is described in section 501(c) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under section
501(a) of such Code; and
(B) commits to not participate in any political
activity, partisan or otherwise, at an administrative
naturalization ceremony or while providing voter
registration services on an agency premises.
<all>