The Mail Ballot Integrity Act forbids States and their subdivisions from sending unsolicited ballots to any individual for elections for Federal office. Under the bill, a voter may receive a ballot by mail only after submitting a written or electronic request that includes a sworn affirmation they meet one of a list of specified eligibility conditions.
The bill enumerates specific qualifying categories (for example, active-duty uniformed service members and spouses, students living out of county, hospitalized voters, incarcerated individuals not serving felonies, voters aged 65+, and several disability-related paths) and prescribes documentary options for disability claims. It also prohibits maintaining automatic or permanent mail-ballot lists except for voters who continue to meet those criteria, and applies to federal elections after enactment.
The measure will force many states to rework mail-ballot practices, verification processes, and IT workflows while raising practical and legal questions about access, privacy, and enforcement.
At a Glance
What It Does
The bill bars States and political subdivisions from sending mail ballots to anyone who did not request one. It requires a written or electronic request that includes an affirmation under penalty of perjury that the requester satisfies one of a defined set of eligibility criteria, and it lists documentation paths for disability claims.
Who It Affects
State and local election officials, voter registration and absentee-ballot processing systems, political campaigns and parties that rely on mail ballots, voters who previously received automatic or unsolicited ballots (including elderly and disabled voters), uniformed and overseas voters, students and certain incarcerated individuals.
Why It Matters
This imposes a federal constraint on state mail-ballot distribution for federal races, shifting the default from broad proactive mailings to a request-only regime. That change reduces some mailing costs and unsolicited distributions but creates new verification, recordkeeping, and access challenges that election administrators and affected voter groups will need to address.
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What This Bill Actually Does
At its core, the bill converts mail voting for federal contests into an opt-in system. States cannot send a mail ballot to someone unless that person asks for one.
The statute treats any unsolicited distribution as prohibited, meaning programs that automatically mail ballots to large segments of a voter roll would be incompatible with federal elections unless every recipient requested the ballot.
The bill sets out how someone gets an absentee/mail ballot: they must submit a request in person, by mail, or electronically, and the request must include a sworn affirmation—under penalty of perjury—that the requester meets one of the eligibility categories spelled out in the statute. That affirmation becomes a legal attestation rather than merely a checkbox; states will need procedures to collect and retain these requests and to decide whether to accept or reject them.The eligibility list is specific.
It includes active-duty uniformed service members (and their spouses/dependents), students and faculty living outside their county of registration, clergy assigned outside their county, voters temporarily absent from their county during early voting and election day, certain post-registration movers (more than 100 miles from the former county seat), persons involuntarily confined for mental treatment (who are not judicially declared incompetent), residents living abroad, voters hospitalized around election time, participants in address confidentiality programs, incarcerated persons not serving a felony sentence, people with disabilities (subject to specified documentation), and voters aged 65 or older. For disability claims the bill provides several documentary paths—identification cards, proof of certain benefits or services, or a clinician’s attestation—so states must decide which forms they accept and how to verify them.The bill also addresses permanence: states may maintain lists of voters who previously requested mail ballots only if those voters continue to meet one or more of the statutory criteria under state law.
The Act becomes operative for federal elections held after enactment. Practically, election offices will likely need to update application forms and websites, change database flags used for permanent absentee lists, train staff on new verification standards, and adjust printing/mailing schedules to avoid sending ballots to ineligible or non-requesting voters.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The bill makes it unlawful for a State or political subdivision to send, distribute, or otherwise provide a mail ballot to any individual who did not request the ballot.
A requester must submit a written or electronic request (in person, by mail, or electronically) that includes an affirmation under penalty of perjury that they meet at least one statutory eligibility criterion.
The statutory eligibility list includes categories such as active-duty uniformed service members (and spouses/dependents), students or faculty living outside their county of registration, clergy assigned outside their county, temporary absence on election day, post-registration moves of more than 100 miles from the former county seat, hospitalization, certain confinement for mental treatment, residence abroad, incarceration not involving a felony sentence, participation in address confidentiality programs, disability (with documentation), and age 65+.
For disability-based requests the bill accepts multiple documentary proofs: a mobility-impairment ID with photo and accessibility symbol; documentation of eligibility for Social Security disability, veterans disability, paratransit, state developmental-disability benefits, or state rehabilitation services; or a physician/optometrist/physician assistant/nurse practitioner attestation.
States may keep 'permanent' mail-ballot lists only for voters who continue to meet one or more of the statutory eligibility criteria as determined under State law; otherwise automatic or ongoing mailings are barred.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
Every bill we cover gets an analysis of its key sections.
Short title
Designates the Act as the 'Mail Ballot Integrity Act.' This is purely a caption but signals the bill’s purpose: to restrict unsolicited mail-ballot distribution for federal contests and frame later provisions as an integrity measure rather than a general absentee reform.
Ban on unsolicited mail ballots
Prohibits any State or political subdivision from sending, distributing, or otherwise providing a mail ballot for a federal election to an individual who did not request it. Operationally, this clause prevents broad mail campaigns that deposit ballots into voter households without an individualized request and requires states to treat any delivery absent a request as contrary to federal law for federal contests.
Request requirement and sworn affirmation
Requires that a mail-ballot request be submitted in person, by mail, or electronically and include an affirmation under penalty of perjury that the requester meets at least one eligibility criterion. Administratively, election officials must collect and retain the request and its affirmation, and decide whether the statement is sufficient—raising questions about record formats, electronic authentication, retention periods, and how to process questionable assertions.
Enumerated eligibility categories and documentation for disabilities
Lists discrete categories that qualify a registered voter to request a mail ballot, from active-duty service members to voters aged 65 or older and those with disabilities. The statute specifies acceptable disability documentation routes (mobility ID, proof of certain benefits/services, or clinician verification). This creates a bounded eligibility universe and compels states to determine how they verify items such as a post-registration move of 'more than 100 miles' or an incarceration status that is 'not serving a sentence for a felony conviction.'
Limits on permanent lists and effective date
Section 2(c) forbids states from keeping or using permanent or automatic mail-ballot lists except for voters who continue to meet the statutory criteria under state law; 2(d) makes the rule applicable to federal elections after enactment. This forces states with existing 'permanent absentee' programs to either re-certify each voter under a qualifying category or alter the program for federal races, and it gives states a compliance horizon tied to their next federal election cycle after enactment.
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Explore Elections in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Active-duty uniformed service members and their spouses/dependents — the bill expressly preserves their eligibility for mail ballots, offering a clear entitlement within the federal rule.
- Voters who meet narrowly defined, documentable situations (for example hospitalized voters or those in address confidentiality programs) — they retain a clear, codified path to request a mail ballot.
- States and localities that prefer a request-only absentee model — the Act provides a uniform federal floor to justify moving away from unsolicited distribution in federal contests and may reduce volume of mass mailings.
- Election administrators seeking clarity on acceptable disability documentation — the bill lists specific documentary options, giving officials defined paths to evaluate requests.
- Budget-conscious jurisdictions — reduced unsolicited mailings can lower printing and postage costs where implemented.
Who Bears the Cost
- State and local election offices — they must design intake systems for sworn requests, verify eligibility categories, store records, train staff, and update IT and processes to avoid sending ballots improperly.
- Voters who previously received unsolicited ballots (including some elderly or disabled voters) — those who do not meet the enumerated categories will now need to complete and submit a request, adding friction that could reduce turnout.
- Voters with disabilities — though the bill preserves pathways, requiring documentary proof or clinician attestation may create privacy and access barriers and impose extra steps on mobility- or cognition-limited voters.
- Absentee/mail ballot vendors and mail houses — jurisdictions that eliminate unsolicited mailings may reduce demand for large-scale printing and mailing contracts.
- County clerks and election offices facing increased administrative appeals or legal challenges — disputes over accepted documentation, residency distance calculations, or definitions like 'temporarily absent' could generate legal work.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is between reducing unsolicited ballot distribution (and the administrative and perceived integrity concerns that motivates) and preserving broad, low-friction access to voting by mail: stricter verification narrows the electorate that can easily use mail ballots and shifts verification and privacy burdens to voters and election officials, potentially disenfranchising vulnerable populations even as it seeks to tighten control of distribution.
The bill trades a broad, proactive approach to mail voting for a tightly defined, request-driven system. That raises multiple implementation questions the text does not resolve: how states should authenticate electronic requests; what level of corroboration suffices for perjury-based affirmations; how to verify transient conditions such as hospitalization or temporary absence; and how to operationalize distance calculations (for post-registration moves more than 100 miles from a former county seat).
The statute provides specific documentary paths for disability claims, but leaves open whether additional forms of evidence are acceptable, how to protect sensitive medical information, and how long to retain such records.
There is also a legal and policy tension about federal intervention in election administration. The bill imposes a federal rule on state-run federal elections, which will interact with existing federal protections (for example laws for military and overseas voters) and a patchwork of state absentee statutes, some of which authorize universal or permanent absentee lists.
The Act contains no enforcement mechanism or penalty framework beyond the perjury affirmation, so practical compliance will depend on administrative guidance, state implementation choices, and — likely — litigation that tests the statute’s scope and interaction with other federal and state obligations.
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