- Report it to the Election Protection Hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE.
- Report it to LWV-California hotline at (888) 870-VOTE (8683)
- Report it to Nevada County Elections Office at (530) 265-1298 or email elections.mail [at] nevadacountyca.gov.
- If your voting rights have been violated: Contact the California Department of Justice here.
Your Vote. Your Future.
Voting Rights
The Constitution is clear: Article I states that administration of elections belongs to the states. And any changes to voting laws must pass through the Congress.
The Constitution also states that Americans cannot be charged to vote. Poll tax was banned by the 24th Amendment in 1964. Passports and driver’s licenses cost money.
- Report intimidation to the Election Protection Hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE or 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA (en Español/English), 888-API-VOTE (Asian languages/English), 844-YALLA-US (Arabic/English).
- Report intimidation to your local election officials. Their offices will be open on Election Day.
Voter Fraud
Statistical analyses and state audits conducted by the Wisconsin Legislative Bureau, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, University of Chicago, Stanford University and other experts have not found evidence of fraud capable of changing election results. These analyses are based on statistical analysis, legal records, audits, and not advocacy postures. In Pennsylvania, for example, a total of 39 cases of fraud were found of the 100 million votes cast in 32 elections over three decades. This amounts to 0.000039% of votes cast were fraudulent, which is not capable of effecting an election outcome. Brookings Institute reference. Heritage Foundation reference.
Voting Changes in 2026: Proposals vs. Reality
A lot is being said - both verbally and in writing - coming from multiple fronts simultaneously in the form of executive orders & statements from the Executive Branch, congressional bills, state laws, and administrative changes like the postmark policy. Very few are resulting in actual changes.
Changes to Voting Rights since January 2025
December 24, 2025: Postmark delay
The postmark date is no longer tied to when a ballot (or any other mail) is dropped into a mailbox or handed it to a clerk. Postmarks now occur when mail is processed by an automated USPS sorting facility, which can be one or more days after it was deposited in a mailbox or post office. To guarantee a postmark date, you must now request a hand-stamped postmark at the post office counter.
Ohio, Kansas, North Dakota, and Utah passed laws in 2025 that no longer allow election officials to count mail ballots received after Election Day (except for military and overseas voters). Previously, these four states allowed mail ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted within a set period afterward.
January 28, 2026: FBI Confiscated state election records
For the first time in United States history, federal agents confiscated original, certified election materials from a local election office. A search warrant authorizing the seizure of the 2020 election ballots in Fulton County, Georgia was signed by Magistrate Judge Catherine M. Salinas of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.The warrant directed federal agents to seize physical ballots, tabulator tapes, ballot images, and voter rolls from the 2020 presidential election records as part of a federal investigation. The warrant does not specify evidence that a crime may have been committed. Our Constitution specifies that states have primary authority to administer federal elections. Now that the original ballots have been removed from secure storage in Fulton County, there is no way to ensure they remain in the same condition as when voters submitted them.
April 29, 2026 U.S. Supreme Court Allows Redistricting in Louisiana
On April 29, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 6–3 that Louisiana's second Black-majority congressional district was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, citing that the state's intentional creation of congressional districts to comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act violate the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
On May 4, the Court also agreed to immediately finalize the opinion, allowing Louisiana to draw a new map in time for the 2026 elections.
In spite of a three-judge panel ruling that both Louisiana and Black voters could not appeal to the Supreme Court, the Court announced on the last day of its term that the case would be held over for reargument in the fall.
Details of this case are at Louisiana v. Callais and Brennan Center for Justice
Proposals to Restrict Voting since January 2025
DOJ National Voter Roll Database*
* Done on a state-by-state basis
For the first time in American history, the DOJ demanded confidential voter information from all 50 states and Washington, D.C. and is compiling it into a single record system. Since 2025, the DOJ has sued 30 states to force them to turn over their non-public voter files. At least 12 states, including Alaska, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming, have voluntarily complied. Judges in five states — Michigan, Oregon, California, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island — have dismissed the DOJ's lawsuits.
March 25, 2025: Executive order*
* Proposed by the president; blocked by courts.
This executive order attempts to:
- Require further proof of citizenship for voter registration beyond what is required today.
- Require paper ballots only
- Restrict mail-in voting
- Use federal agencies to verify citizenship and share personal data.
- Decertify voting machines
- Give DOGE access to personal voter data.
- Withold federal grant funding from states counting mail-in ballots received after election day.
April 2025 federal court rulings: As a result of multiple lawsuits, parts of the Order were blocked by a federal court that determined the executive order violates our Constitution because the President does not have the power to regulate federal elections. The ruling further determined that the Order also violates existing laws including the National Voter Registration Act.
April 2025: SAVE Act HR22 & February 2026: SAVE Act HR7296, MEGA HR7300*
* These changes will not be made unless they are approved by Congress and become law.
Why 2 SAVE Acts? H.R. 22 was not approved by Congress during the session it was introduced. Bills don’t carry over between sessions of Congress. So, H.R. 7296 (Act) was introduced in February as another attempt to gain approval of similar policy from the 119th Congress. Both SAVE Acts are similar to the executive order above, but the Order is not enforceable since it conflicts with constitutional law. If approved by the 119th Congress before their session ends on January 3, 2027, the Act would become federal law.
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Proof of citizenship and picture ID presented in person would be required to register to vote: A California REALID does not confirm citizenship and a birth certificate does not have a photo, so citizens registering to vote in California would need either a passport or a drivers license and a birth certificate to register. If the names do not match on the documents, voters would be required to reregister to vote with all of these documents plus documentation of name changes. This provision eliminates the possibility of mail-in and online registration.
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Photo ID (hardcopy only, not digital) would be required to cast a ballot: Ballots mailed in would have to include a copy of the photo ID.
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Federal government would monitor and approve state elections.
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Criminal penalties would be imposed on election officials who knowingly or unknowingly allowed improper registration.
The Senate began actively debating the SAVE Act in mid-March 2026. It is clear the Act will not garner the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster and so the bill was "debated" giving all parties a platform to air their opinions on the bill publicly. Republicans hold 53 seats and one Republican voted against introducing the bill and so they fall short of overcoming a filibuster.
Each two-year Congress typically includes two legislative sessions. Bills that don't pass during the first session carry over into the second session automatically. Any bill that hasn't passed by the time the entire Congressional sessions end must be reintroduced from scratch in the next Congress. So a filibuster that ran out the full Congressional sessions would kill the bill.
The 2nd session of the 119th Congress is currently in session until January. If the SAVE Act is not brought to a final vote before January 3, 2027, it will die.
While the bill is currently stalled (as of April 24, 2026), advocates continue pursuing its provisions through other paths that have thus far failed.
Track the status of HR 7296. Track the status of HR7300. Filibusters Explained Briefly
Detailed Filibuster Explanation How a filibuster relates to the Save Act
February 2, 2026: "Nationalize" Elections*
* This change will not be made unless enacted into law.
In a public appearance, the U.S. president said, "The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.” The specific meaning of this statement is undefined.
A major tenent of our Constitution is to decentralize the American voting system to prevent the concentration of power. Article I, Section 4, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution states, “The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State”.
February 2026: ICE at polling locations*
* This was publicly proposed by a close associate of the president who is not in the government.
The White House stated that there are no plans to deploy ICE to polling locations.
February 2026: Ballot Process in California*
* These changes will not happen uless the state legislature approves SB884 to be enacted into law.
If approved by our state legislature, SB884 would be in effect for elections in 2026 through 2028, except for the June 2026 statewide primary. For those elections, it would:
- require vote centers to be open longer and an increased number of dropoff locations in counties that conduct all-mailed ballot elections.
- allow vote by mail ballots to be counted if they are received by the elections official up to 10 days after election day.
- prohibit the enforcement of federal immigration laws within 200 feet of specified voting locations.
- extend the prohibition on electioneering activities to be further away from voting locations
- authorize a county elections official to extend the time for closing the polls if those officials determine that voting at the polling place was disrupted by a violation of the prohibitions on enforcement of federal immigration laws or electioneering.
March 2026 Supreme Court Hearing on Mail-In Ballots*
*This change will not happen unless approved by the Supreme Court.
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case examining whether states may count mail-in ballots that are postmarked by Election Day and arrive afterward. This effects 14 states, including California where mail-in ballots are counted if received up to 7 days after Election Day if postmarked by Election Day. The ruling would apply only to voting for federal offices, creating different deadlines for congressional and presidential elections than for state and local races.The Court's written ruling is expected by late June or early July 2026.
March 31, 2026: Executive Order*
* This change is expected to be challenged and blocked by courts.
An executive order issued on March 31, 2026 requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to compile a list of U.S. citizens eligible to vote in each state, using data from the Social Security Administration. It also directs the U.S. Postal Service to send mail ballots only to voters who appear on that federally-compiled list, and imposes new requirements on mail ballot envelopes.
LWV Legal Action To Preserve Voting Rights
- League of Women Voters filed a lawsuit in coordination with other voting rights groups and lawsuits by attorneys general from several states.
- League of Women Voters submitted comments to the Election Assistance Commission's (EAC) Technical Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC) on July 02, 2025
Additional Information...
3 minute video on the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote.
Court cases across the nation to protect voting rights.
List of lawsuits recently filed against all executive orders.
General Election and voting information both locally and across the nation.
