PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Jul 31, 2025
Expanding the Voluntary Opportunities for Translations in Elections Act or the Expanding the VOTE Act
This bill expands access to voting materials for individuals with limited proficiency in the English language.
Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) requires covered states and political subdivisions to provide voting materials and other language assistance to persons who are American Indian, Asian American, Alaskan Natives, or of Spanish heritage and whose ability to speak or understand English limits electoral participation. A state or political subdivision that is subject to Section 203 is prohibited from providing English-only voting materials in an election. Among other requirements, this bill (1) requires the Department of Justice to issue a notice of prohibition, including the trigger threshold at which the prohibition applies, to certain states and political subdivisions; and (2) requires covered states and political subdivisions to provide written translations of all voting materials, with the consent of any applicable tribal government, to election workers.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Additionally, the bill requires the Election Assistance Commission to make incentive grants for states and political subdivisions to provide translated voting materials.
The bill also directs the Government Accountability Office to study and report on the impact of (1) reducing the threshold requirement under Section 203 of the VRA, and (2) expanding the definition of language minorities to include native speakers of additional languages.
People & committees
Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA] · D–CA
Legislative record
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
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Source last updated: Feb 18, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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