States would ensure accessible polls and offer no-excuse absentee voting

States would let every eligible voter request and use an absentee ballot through the required procedures. The rules cover eligible voters in elections for federal office and do not permit ballots to be cast over the internet. States must accept otherwise valid registration applications received at least 21 days before an election and absentee-ballot applications received at least 7 days before it. Electronic materials must meet the bill's accessibility rules, and ballot tracking must protect ballot secrecy. These requirements would apply to federal elections held on or after January 1, 2027.

States would ensure all polling places are accessible and make any ballot drop boxes accessible to the groups named in the bill. Polling places must be usable by older and disabled voters. Drop boxes must also serve disabled voters, people with limited English, and people without stable housing. States would also have to consider ways to address long waits and mobile polling at long-term care facilities, but they would not have to adopt those options. These requirements would apply to federal elections held on or after January 1, 2027.

States would be barred from treating guardianship alone as proof that a person cannot vote. This protection covers people under guardianship who seek to vote in elections for federal office. A court could find a person unable to vote only with clear and convincing evidence that the person cannot communicate a desire to take part, even with accommodations. The protection would apply to federal elections held on or after January 1, 2027.

States and local governments would publish accessible election information and notices, while one designated state office would manage disability and aging information. The website rules cover every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and U.S. territories or possessions, and require access for disabled people and people with limited English. The state office would regularly audit polling places and publish results within six months after each audit. Officials would generally publish notice within seven days after certain voting-rule changes and report polling-place resources before an election, with later updates generally due within 48 hours. The website and state-office requirements would apply on or after January 1, 2027; the notice rules would cover federal elections held on or after that date.

The Election Assistance Commission would run an accessibility office, resource center, and national website and administer payments and research support. The federal services would support election officials and voters facing barriers related to age, disability, Native or Alaska Native status, or limited English. Money would still need to be provided through later spending laws. The amounts lawmakers could later provide include $500,000 annually for the office in fiscal years 2027 and 2028, at least $5 million annually for the center beginning in fiscal year 2027, $300 million for state payments through fiscal year 2032, and $30 million for research. States seeking payments must apply, direct at least 10 percent to local governments, and improve general election websites rather than build separate disability-access websites. The resource center would be established by January 1, 2027, and state-payment periods would begin on or after October 1, 2027.