PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on 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.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Jan 3, 2025
Let America Vote Act
This bill requires states to allow unaffiliated voters to vote in primary elections for federal office. It also restricts certain federal election funding for states that allow noncitizens to vote in state or local elections.
Specifically, each state must permit an unaffiliated voter who is registered to vote in a federal election held in the state to vote in any primary election for federal office. A state shall not permit an unaffiliated voter to vote in primary elections for more than one political party.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
The bill prohibits a state from (1) sharing unaffiliated voter information with a political party or any other person who may reasonably be expected to use the information for political purposes, including soliciting funds; or (2) treating an unaffiliated voter as a member of a political party for purposes of the state's official voter registration list.
States must, in order to use federal election administration funds, certify their compliance with these unaffiliated voter requirements. Upon certification, the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) must make five-year grants to the state for the costs of permitting unaffiliated voters to vote in primary elections.
The bill specifically prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections. (Current federal law prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections.)
A state may not use federal election administration funds unless the state certifies to the EAC that it does not permit a noncitizen to vote in state or local elections or vote on any ballot initiative or referendum held in the state.
People & committees
Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1] · R–PA
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on 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.
Referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on 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.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
Source last updated: Jan 12, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.155 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.155 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.155 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.155 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.
PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-01-03 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
This proposal would require states to let registered voters without a political party affiliation participate in federal primaries, while limiting them to one party’s primary for an office. It would also prohibit noncitizens from voting in federal elections. States’ use of federal election-administration funds would depend on certifications extending these requirements to state and local elections, with additional protections for unaffiliated voters and restrictions covering noncitizen voting on ballot measures.
Each State shall permit an unaffiliated voter who is registered to vote in an election for Federal office held in the State to vote in any primary election for such office held in the State, except that the State shall not permit an unaffiliated voter to vote in primary elections for such office of more than one political party.
a State may not use any funds provided by the Federal Government directly for election administration purposes unless the State certifies to the Election Assistance Commission that—
(1) the State permits an unaffiliated voter who is registered to vote in an election for State or local office held in the State to vote in any primary election for such office held in the State, except that the State shall not permit an unaffiliated voter to vote in primary elections for such office of more than one political party;
(2) the State applies the restrictions on sharing information relating to unaffiliated voters in primary elections for Federal office, as described in subsection (a)(2)(A), to information relating to unaffiliated voters in primary elections for State and local office;
No State shall permit any person who is not a citizen of the United States to vote in any election for Federal office held in the State.
a State may not use any funds provided by the Federal Government directly for election administration purposes unless the State certifies to the Election Assistance Commission that the State does not permit any person who is not a citizen of the United States to vote in any election for State or local office or any ballot initiative or referendum held in the State.
Section 1 would name the proposal the Let America Vote Act.
This Act may be cited as the Let America Vote Act.
Section 2 expresses Congress’s view that citizens should not be denied voting rights in taxpayer-funded public-office elections because of their political party affiliation or lack of one.
It is the sense of Congress that the right of a citizen of the United States to vote in any taxpayer-funded election for public office shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on the grounds of political party affiliation or lack thereof.
For Section 2, an unaffiliated voter means someone who is neither registered as a political party member nor otherwise affiliated with a party.
the term unaffiliated voter means an individual who is not registered to vote as a member of a political party or otherwise affiliated with a political party.
States would have to allow an unaffiliated voter registered for a federal election to vote in any primary for that office. States would also have to prevent that voter from participating in more than one party’s primary for the office.
Each State shall permit an unaffiliated voter who is registered to vote in an election for Federal office held in the State to vote in any primary election for such office held in the State, except that the State shall not permit an unaffiliated voter to vote in primary elections for such office of more than one political party.
States could not share information about unaffiliated voters in federal primaries with political parties or anyone reasonably expected to use it for political purposes or politically connected commercial purposes, including fundraising. The restriction expressly includes names and contact information.
A State shall not share information relating to an unaffiliated voter in a primary election for Federal office, including the voter’s name and contact information, with a political party or with any other person who may reasonably be expected to use the information for a political or politically-connected commercial purpose, including soliciting funds.
A state could not change an unaffiliated voter’s official registration status to party membership or affiliation solely because the voter participated in that party’s federal primary.
For purposes of a State’s official voter registration list, a State shall not treat an individual who is an unaffiliated voter as a member of, or as an individual who is otherwise affiliated with, the political party who held the primary election in which the individual voted solely on the grounds that the individual voted in that primary election.
To use federal funds provided directly for election administration, states would have to certify to the Election Assistance Commission that registered unaffiliated voters can participate in state and local primaries, subject to the same one-party-per-office limit.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a State may not use any funds provided by the Federal Government directly for election administration purposes unless the State certifies to the Election Assistance Commission that— (1) the State permits an unaffiliated voter who is registered to vote in an election for State or local office held in the State to vote in any primary election for such office held in the State, except that the State shall not permit an unaffiliated voter to vote in primary elections for such office of more than one political party;
The same funding certification would have to cover restrictions on sharing unaffiliated voters’ information and treating primary participation as party affiliation in state and local elections. These clauses contain cross-reference errors discussed in the limitations.
a State may not use any funds provided by the Federal Government directly for election administration purposes unless the State certifies to the Election Assistance Commission that—
(2) the State applies the restrictions on sharing information relating to unaffiliated voters in primary elections for Federal office, as described in subsection (a)(2)(A), to information relating to unaffiliated voters in primary elections for State and local office; and (3) the State applies the restrictions on treating unaffiliated voters in primary elections for Federal office as members of, or as individuals who are otherwise affiliated with, a political party, as described in subsection (a)(2)(B), to unaffiliated voters in primary elections for State and local office.
If a state certified compliance with Section 2 for a fiscal year, the Election Assistance Commission would be directed to pay it a transition grant that year and in each of the next four fiscal years. Each annual payment would equal 2 percent of the total payments made to that state under Section 251 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002.
If a State certifies to the Election Assistance Commission that the State is in compliance with the requirements of this section with respect to a fiscal year, the Commission shall make a payment to the State during that fiscal year and each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years in an amount equal to 2 percent of the total amount of requirements payments made to the State under section 251 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21001).
States would have to use transition grants to cover the costs of allowing registered unaffiliated voters to participate in federal, state and local primaries.
A State shall use the payment received under this subsection to cover the costs of permitting unaffiliated voters who are registered to vote in elections for Federal, State, or local office held in the State to vote in any primary election for such office held in the State.
The proposal would authorize Congress to provide whatever amounts are necessary for the grants beginning in fiscal year 2026 and continuing in later fiscal years. This authorization does not itself provide the money, and it specifies no final fiscal year.
There are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2026 and each succeeding fiscal year such sums as may be necessary for grants under this subsection.
Section 2’s definition of a primary includes presidential preference primaries and party conventions or caucuses authorized to nominate federal candidates. Conventions and caucuses are party meetings used here to select nominees. The definition is framed around candidates for federal office, creating uncertainty about its application to the state and local provisions.
the term primary election means an election (including a primary election held for the expression of a preference for the nomination of individuals for election to the office of President) held by any political party to nominate individuals who would appear on a general election ballot as a candidate for election for Federal office, including a convention or caucus of a political party which has authority to nominate such a candidate;
the State permits an unaffiliated voter who is registered to vote in an election for State or local office held in the State to vote in any primary election for such office held in the State
The proposal says the Act would apply to elections held after its enactment date.
This Act shall apply with respect to elections held after the date of the enactment of this Act.
Section 3 declares a policy against noncitizen voting in taxpayer-funded elections for public office. Its federal-election requirement would prohibit states from permitting anyone who is not a U.S. citizen to vote in a federal election held in the state.
It is the policy of the United States that no person who is not a citizen shall be permitted or granted the right to vote in any taxpayer-funded election for public office held by or in the United States or any State.
No State shall permit any person who is not a citizen of the United States to vote in any election for Federal office held in the State.
Section 3 would also condition states’ use of federal funds provided directly for election administration on a certification to the Election Assistance Commission. A state would have to certify that it does not allow non-U.S. citizens to vote in state or local elections, ballot initiatives or referendums—votes on measures rather than candidates.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a State may not use any funds provided by the Federal Government directly for election administration purposes unless the State certifies to the Election Assistance Commission that the State does not permit any person who is not a citizen of the United States to vote in any election for State or local office or any ballot initiative or referendum held in the State.
The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated January 12, 2026, records introduction in the House on January 3, 2025, and referral that day to the House Administration and Judiciary committees for provisions within their respective jurisdictions.
Source snapshot updated 2026-01-12T19:43:44Z.
2025-01-03: Introduced in House
2025-01-03: Referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on 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 closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-01-03. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy rider attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. Its provisions concern election participation and related administration. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No earmark was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. The transition grants use a statutory formula rather than naming particular recipients or places for special allocations. This conclusion is limited to that version; accompanying earmark requests, disclosures and committee materials are not supplied.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow preferential carve-out was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. Access and related protections for unaffiliated voters concern participation in generally available elections, and transition assistance supports implementation. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Jan 12, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI