H.R. 10700 — Accessible Voting Act of 2026

This section establishes the Election Assistance Commission Office of Accessibility within the Election Assistance Commission. The Office advocates for voters with access needs, including older individuals, individuals with disabilities, Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and individuals with limited English proficiency; ensures compliance with Department of Justice accessibility standards and sections 304 through 309; administers related state payments; operates a national resource center and voter accessibility website; and refers enforcement matters to the Department of Justice. It is headed by a Director serving a 4-year term, with the first term ending January 3, 2028.

This section establishes the National Resource Center on Accessible Voting no later than January 1, 2027, to provide State and local election officials, poll workers, and volunteers with information and technical assistance on accessible voting for older individuals, individuals with disabilities, Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and individuals with limited English proficiency. It authorizes appropriations of at least $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2027 and each succeeding fiscal year.

This section establishes a national voter accessibility website administered by the Office of Accessibility to provide individuals with disabilities and older individuals with links to each state’s accessible election website, state voting timelines and deadlines, plain-language descriptions of state voter identification and registration rules, polling place accessibility details, and information on aid, transportation, and protection and advocacy systems under 42 U.S.C. 15002. It also requires the Office to maintain a public database of voting complaints while preserving complainant anonymity and to refer federal law violations to the Department of Justice.

This section requires each State to establish and maintain accessible election websites that provide local officials with guidance and training on polling place access for individuals with disabilities and older individuals, and that furnish voters with details on polling locations, registration, transportation aid, voting rights, and complaint procedures. It mandates State plans developed by committees including disability and older individual advocates, requires partnerships with outside technical organizations for website development and in-house training, and directs partnerships with at least two specified entities—including University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Services—to monitor and verify accessibility.

This section requires each State to designate a single office responsible for providing Federal election information to individuals with disabilities and older individuals, effective January 1, 2027. The office must maintain accessible State election websites, provide information on voter registration and voting procedures, regularly audit polling places for accessibility and post results, train poll workers on accessibility, integrate related content into training materials, and promote hiring of such individuals as election staff.

This section requires states and political subdivisions to provide public notice within 7 days of any change to voting prerequisites, standards, practices, or procedures that differs from those in effect 180 days before a Federal election, and to disclose polling place resources—including locations, voting machine counts, poll worker training levels, and accessibility—by the 30th day before the election, with updates within 48 hours. Notices must be accessible to individuals with disabilities and older individuals and sent to requesting voters and state protection and advocacy systems, effective for elections held on or after January 1, 2027.

This section requires each State to permit any eligible voter to register to vote and to request and cast an absentee ballot without excuse in elections for Federal office. It mandates acceptance of registration applications received at least 21 days before an election and absentee ballot applications received at least 7 days before an election. It directs States to offer electronic transmission and submission options for both, to provide notice of absentee application disposition within 7 days, to allow permanent absentee voter status, and to transmit requested ballots at least 45 days before an election when practicable.

This section requires states to ensure all polling places and voter drop boxes are accessible to individuals with disabilities, limited English proficiency, and homeless individuals, and to consider procedures addressing long wait times at polls as well as mobile polling sites at long-term care facilities. It applies to federal elections held on or after January 1, 2027. It also updates terminology throughout the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act to refer to individuals with disabilities and older individuals, transfers reporting requirements from the Federal Election Commission to the Election Assistance Commission, and renames the Act the Voting Accessibility for Individuals with Disabilities and Older Individuals Act, effective January 1, 2027.

This section prohibits states from determining that an individual subject to guardianship lacks the capacity to vote in federal elections unless a court of competent jurisdiction finds by clear and convincing evidence that the individual cannot communicate, with or without accommodations, a desire to participate in the voting process. The prohibition applies to elections held on or after January 1, 2027.

This section establishes payments by the Director of the Office of Accessibility to eligible States, beginning October 1, 2027, for each two-fiscal-year period to implement accessibility requirements under sections 304 through 309 of the Help America Vote Act. Payments are allocated by voting-age population share with a $1,000,000 minimum per State and require at least 10 percent of funds to be passed through to local governments for accessible election websites. States must submit detailed applications, report on expenditures and complaints, and follow Director-issued standards; funds may not be used for separate disability-specific websites.

This section expands the Election Assistance Commission's voluntary guidance to cover subtitles A and B of title III. It requires coordination with the Election Assistance Commission Office of Accessibility when adopting recommendations for sections 304 through 309 and sets a deadline of January 1, 2027, for those recommendations. It also extends enforcement provisions to all of subtitle A of title III.

This section expands authorized uses of payments under the voting access grant program for individuals with disabilities to include making absentee voting and voting in an individual's place of residence accessible through systems compatible with assistive technologies at homes, independent living centers, and long-term care facilities, and providing universally designed solutions for voting access. It reauthorizes the program for fiscal year 2027 and each succeeding fiscal year with such sums as may be necessary, and requires states and local governments to obligate or expend funds within four years or transfer unspent amounts to the Election Assistance Commission for reallocation.

This section directs the Election Assistance Commission, in coordination with the Access Board and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, to award grants to at least three eligible entities to study, test, and develop accessible and secure remote voting systems and devices for individuals with disabilities. It requires any resulting technology to be treated as non-proprietary and made publicly available, coordinates the grants with existing research under section 271 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002, and authorizes $30 million to remain available until expended.

This section increases the Election Assistance Commission Board of Advisors to 49 members (from 37) by adding two members appointed by the National Council on Disability, two appointed by the Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Aging, four from organizations representing voters with disabilities, and four from organizations representing older voters, with the new members appointed by designated House and Senate committees. The changes take effect on January 1, 2027.