S. 5271 · 119th Congress
A bill to amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require voters to provide photo identification.
Introduced on Aug 5, 2026 by Jon Husted (R-OH). 2 cosponsors, all from the sponsor's party. Latest action (Aug 8, 2026): Cloture on the motion to proceed to the measure not invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 52 - 46. Record Vote Number: 231.
- Stage
- Introduced
- Introduced
- Aug 5, 2026
- Cosponsors
- 2
- 0 from the other party
- Policy area
- Government Operations and Politics
Progress
The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.
- Introduced
- 2Reported by committee
- 3Passed one chamber
- 4Passed both chambers
- 5Sent to the President
- 6Became law
Subjects
- Elections, voting, political campaign regulation
- Licensing and registrations
- State and local government operations
- Visas and passports
- Voting rights
Summary
By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in Senate, Aug 5, 2026). Public domain.
This bill establishes certain photo identification requirements for voting in federal elections.
Specifically, the bill prohibits a state or local election official from providing a ballot for a federal election to an individual who does not present valid physical photo identification.
Next, the bill outlines the availability of provisional ballots and the requirements for counting those ballots. An individual who does not present a valid photo identification must be permitted to cast a provisional ballot. However, an election official may not determine that the individual is eligible under state law to vote in the election unless, not later than three days after casting the provisional ballot, the individual presents (1) the identification required, or (2) an affidavit attesting that the individual does not possess the identification because of a religious objection to being photographed.
An election official may not allow for voting methods other than in-person voting unless the individual submits with the ballot (1) a copy of their photo identification, or (2) the last four digits of their Social Security number with an affidavit attesting that the individual is unable to obtain a copy of a valid photo identification after making reasonable efforts to obtain a copy. This prohibition shall not apply to overseas military voters and certain disabled or elderly voters.
States must, to the extent practicable, ensure public access to digital imaging devices for individuals to make a free copy of their valid photo identification.
These requirements take effect one day after the bill's enactment.
Sponsor and cosponsors
Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.
Republicans · 2
- Ashley MoodyR-FLsigned on Aug 7, 2026
- Dan SullivanR-AKsigned on Aug 7, 2026
Roll calls
Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.
- Aug 8, 2026· Senate· Cloture· Cloture on the Motion to Proceed Rejected 52–46
History
Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.
- Aug 5, 2026Introduced in Senate
- Aug 5, 2026 · SenateIntroduced in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time.
- Aug 6, 2026 · SenateRead the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 547.
- Aug 8, 2026 · SenateMotion to proceed to consideration of measure made in Senate. (CR S4556)
- Aug 8, 2026 · SenateCloture motion on the motion to proceed to the measure presented in Senate. (CR S4556)
- Aug 8, 2026 · SenateCloture on the motion to proceed to the measure not invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 52 - 46. Record Vote Number: 231.Senate · Roll call 231
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 8, 2026 · loaded Oct 8, 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 7, 2026 · loaded Oct 7, 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.