Warner, Kaine, Colleagues Introduce Legislation to End Trump’s Attacks on Mail-In Voting

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) joined Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and 35 of their Senate colleagues in introducing the Absentee and Mail Voter Protection (Absentee MVP) Act, legislation to block President Donald Trump’s efforts to restrict absentee and mail-in voting by executive order. Trump’s executive order directs the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to reject and refuse delivery of lawful ballots unless states comply with federal eligibility lists compiled by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which are widely considered to be based on incomplete and unreliable data.

“President Trump, who himself voted by mail in a Florida election this year, knows Americans are frustrated by the economy and his cost-raising war with Iran – so with the midterm elections looming, he’s trying to make it harder for others to do the same,” said the senators. “This would open the door to widespread disenfranchisement, especially for servicemembers overseas, senior citizens, people with health issues or disabilities, caregivers, and working Americans who cannot miss work to go to the polls on Election Day. That’s why we are proud to introduce this commonsense legislation to stop Trump in his tracks and protect Americans’ right to vote.”

In addition to nullifying Trump’s March 31, 2026 executive order and blocking any similar executive order in the future, this legislation would:

• Block DHS and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) from sharing state voter lists.
• Remove funding from the DOJ’s efforts to compel production of state voter lists.
• Enforce the Privacy Act by precluding federal agencies from improperly sharing voter data, both within the government and with outside groups.
• Remove funding for any future efforts by the U.S. Department of Commerce to enact partisan regulation of mail-in ballots.

The Absentee MVP Act is led by Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), and Dick Durbin (D-IL). In addition to Warner and Kaine, this legislation is cosponsored by Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

Full text of the legislation can be found here.

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