Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee joined Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), and Dick Durbin (D-IL) to introduce the Absentee and Mail Voter Protection Act (Absentee MVP Act) to block President Trump’s illegal and unconstitutional executive order attacking mail and absentee ballots, and protect the right to vote by mail.
The Absentee MVP Act would nullify Trump’s unlawful March 31 executive order (EO) that aims to illegally re-write federal election rules or any similar order and prohibit the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and any other agency from spending funds to implement actions in the President’s unconstitutional executive order. At its core, the EO would give the USPS sweeping new authority to decide which voters may cast ballots by mail by ordering the USPS to reject and refuse delivery of lawful ballots unless states comply with newly established federal eligibility lists. Those who do not comply with these restrictions would face serious consequences: election officials, mail carriers, and others who send or deliver ballots to voters the administration considers ineligible could face criminal charges and states and local governments could forfeit federal funding. To lay the groundwork for this override of existing state and federal voting laws, the order also tasks DHS with building state-by-state rosters of voting-age American citizens — drawn from federal data sources widely considered to be incomplete and unreliable.
“In our country, every citizen has a right to make their voices heard on Election Day. Republicans’ continued assault on absentee and mail-in ballots weakens our democracy by silencing the voices of millions of Americans,” said Senator Murray. “Such blatant attacks on our democracy cannot be tolerated, and that’s why I am proud to join my colleagues in introducing this bill to protect Americans’ access to vote-by-mail.”
In addition to nullifying the EO, the legislation bars any similar EO and provides additional limits on Trump Administration attempts to implement the actions in the EO, including by:
- Blocking the Department of Justice (DOJ) and DHS from sharing state voter lists
- Defunding the DOJ’s efforts to compel production of state voter lists
- Enforcing the Privacy Act by barring federal agencies from improperly sharing voter data, both within the government and with outside groups
- Defunding any future Commerce Department efforts to enact partisan regulation of mail-in ballots
“In a country founded on the ideals of ‘We, the People,’ in which the right to vote is fundamental to who we are as a nation — people shouldn’t have to work too hard to have their voices heard and their votes are counted,” said Senator Padilla. “Instead of focusing on lowering costs, ending the illegal war in Iran and bringing our troops home, and improving the lives of Americans across the country, too many Republicans in Congress are shamefully focused on making it more difficult for Americans to cast their ballots in November. Democrats are full court press on pushing back against these blatant attempts to silence the American people.”
“President Trump is trying to illegally co-opt the Postal Service and the Department of Homeland Security so that he can pick and choose who gets to vote,” said Senator Peters. “Our Constitution gives States and Congress the power to conduct elections, and vote-by-mail is a legal and proven part of our nation’s electoral process. Every American must stand up to this illegal power grab as we fight to maintain our nation’s core values.”
“The right to vote is fundamental to our nation’s democracy. But the President, time and time again, has attacked Americans’ access to the ballot box, and his latest strategy is an executive order that targets mail-in voting,” said Senator Durbin. “I’m joining Senator Padilla to introduce the Absentee MVP Act to protect Americans’ right to vote from any presidential administration, including this one, that tries to interfere with absentee and mail-in ballots.”
In addition to Murray, Padilla, Peters, and Durbin, the legislation is co-sponsored by U.S. 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), Tim Kaine (D-VA), 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), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mark Warner (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
The full text of the legislation is available HERE.
###
