the universal right to vote by mail while voters in 
other States do not. 
(2) Many voters often have work, family, or 
other commitments that make getting to polls on the 
date of an election difficult or impossible. Under 
current State laws, many of these voters are not per-
mitted to vote by mail. 
(3) 36 States and the District of Columbia cur-
rently allow universal absentee voting (also known as 
‘‘no-excuse’’ absentee voting), which permits any 
voter to request a mail-in ballot without providing a 
reason for the request, and no State which has im-
plemented no-excuse absentee voting has switched 
back. 
(4) Voting by mail gives voters more time to 
consider their choices, which is especially important 
as many ballots contain greater numbers of ques-
tions about complex issues than in the past due to 
the expanded use of the initiative and referendum 
process in many States. 
(5) Allowing all voters the option to vote by 
mail can lead to increased voter participation. 
(6) Allowing all voters the option to vote by 
mail can reduce waiting times for those voters who 
choose to vote at the polls. 
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(7) Voting by mail is preferable to many voters 
as an alternative to going to the polls. Voting by 
mail has become increasingly popular with voters 
who want to be certain that they are able to vote no 
matter what comes up on Election Day. 
(8) No evidence exists suggesting the potential 
for fraud in absentee balloting is greater than the 
potential for fraud by any other method of voting. 
(9) Many of the reasons which voters in many 
States are required to provide in order to vote by 
mail require the revelation of personal information 
about health, travel plans, or religious activities, 
which violate voters’ privacy while doing nothing to 
prevent voter fraud. 
(10) State laws which require voters to obtain 
a notary signature to vote by mail only add cost and 
inconvenience to voters without increasing security. 
SEC. 3. PROMOTING ABILITY OF VOTERS TO VOTE BY MAIL 
IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title III of the Help 
America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is 
amended by inserting after section 303 the following new 
section: 
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‘‘SEC. 303A. PROMOTING ABILITY OF VOTERS TO VOTE BY 
MAIL. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If an individual in a State is eli-
gible to cast a vote in an election for Federal office, the 
State may not impose any additional conditions or require-
ments on the eligibility of the individual to cast the vote 
in such election by mail, except to the extent that the 
State imposes a deadline for requesting the ballot and re-
lated voting materials from the appropriate State or local 
election official and for returning the ballot to the appro-
priate State or local election official. 
‘‘(b) NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY TO CURE DISCREP-
ANCY OR DEFECT.— 
‘‘(1) NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY TO CURE DIS-
CREPANCY IN SIGNATURES.—If an individual sub-
mits a mail-in ballot or an absentee ballot and the 
appropriate State or local election official determines 
that a discrepancy exists between the signature on 
such ballot and the signature of such individual on 
the official list of registered voters in the State or 
other official record or document used by the State 
to verify the signatures of voters, such election offi-
cial, prior to making a final determination as to the 
validity of such ballot, shall— 
‘‘(A) as soon as practical, but not later 
than the next business day after such deter-
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mination is made, make a good faith effort to 
notify the individual by mail, telephone, and (if 
available) text message and electronic mail 
that— 
‘‘(i) a discrepancy exists between the 
signature on such ballot and the signature 
of the individual on the official list of reg-
istered voters in the State or other official 
record or document used by the State to 
verify the signatures of voters; and 
‘‘(ii) if such discrepancy is not cured 
prior to the expiration of the third day fol-
lowing the State’s deadline for receiving 
mail-in ballots or absentee ballots, such 
ballot will not be counted; and 
‘‘(B) cure such discrepancy and count the 
ballot if, prior to the expiration of the third day 
following the State’s deadline for receiving mail- 
in ballots or absentee ballots, the individual pro-
vides the official with information to cure such 
discrepancy, either in person, by telephone, or 
by electronic methods. 
‘‘(2) NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY TO CURE MISS-
ING
SIGNATURE
OR
OTHER
DEFECT.—If an indi-
vidual submits a mail-in ballot or an absentee ballot 
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without a signature or submits a mail-in ballot or an 
absentee ballot with another defect which, if left 
uncured, would cause the ballot to not be counted, 
the appropriate State or local election official, prior 
to making a final determination as to the validity of 
the ballot, shall— 
‘‘(A) as soon as practical, but not later 
than the next business day after such deter-
mination is made, make a good faith effort to 
notify the individual by mail, telephone, and (if 
available) text message and electronic mail 
that— 
‘‘(i) the ballot did not include a signa-
ture or has some other defect; and 
‘‘(ii) if the individual does not provide 
the missing signature or cure the other de-
fect prior to the expiration of the third day 
following the State’s deadline for receiving 
mail-in ballots or absentee ballots, such 
ballot will not be counted; and 
‘‘(B) count the ballot if, prior to the expi-
ration of the third day following the State’s 
deadline for receiving mail-in ballots or absen-
tee ballots, the individual provides the official 
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with the missing signature on a form proscribed 
by the State or cures the other defect. 
This paragraph does not apply with respect to a de-
fect consisting of the failure of a ballot to meet the 
applicable deadline for the acceptance of the ballot 
under State law. 
‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-
tion shall be construed to affect the authority of States 
to conduct elections for Federal office through the use of 
polling places at which individuals cast ballots on the date 
of the election. 
‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—A State shall be required 
to comply with the requirements of this section with re-
spect to elections for Federal office held in years beginning 
with 2026.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN-
FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 
is amended by striking ‘‘and 304’’ and inserting ‘‘303A, 
and 304’’. 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
for such Act is amended by inserting after the item relat-
ing to section 303 the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 303A. Promoting ability of voters to vote by mail.’’. 
Æ 
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