H.R. 4959 · 117th Congress

Right to Vote Act

Introduced on Aug 6, 2021 by Mondaire Jones (D-NY-17). One cosponsor. Latest action (Nov 1, 2022): Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.

Stage
Introduced
Introduced
Aug 6, 2021
Cosponsors
1
0 from the other party
Policy area
Government Operations and Politics
Open in the Congress explorerCongress.govAlert me

Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. 2Reported by committee
  3. 3Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To protect the right to vote in elections for Federal office, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Civil actions and liability
  • Elections, voting, political campaign regulation
  • Judicial review and appeals
  • Legal fees and court costs
  • State and local government operations
  • Voting rights

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in House, Aug 6, 2021). Public domain.

Right to Vote Act

This bill addresses the right to vote in federal elections.

Specifically, the bill declares that every citizen of legal voting age shall have the right to vote in federal elections that is free from any burden on the time, place, or manner of voting.

In addition, the bill prohibits federal, state, and local governments from substantially impairing the ability to vote in federal elections unless the government action furthers an important and particularized governmental interest. Further, the bill specifies that a government may not diminish the ability to vote in federal elections unless the action uses the least restrictive means to achieve such an interest.

A violation of rights created by the bill may be challenged in district court, and a prevailing plaintiff may receive attorney fees. The bill outlines judicial review standards for challenges to voting practices.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Mondaire JonesD-NY-17Sponsor

Democrats · 1

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Aug 6, 2021Introduced in House
  2. Aug 6, 2021Introduced in House
  3. Aug 6, 2021 · HouseReferred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
  4. Nov 1, 2022 · HouseReferred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 10, 2026 · loaded Oct 10, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 10, 2026 · loaded Oct 10, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.