S 5271 119th Congress
A bill to amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require voters to provide photo identification.
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...
Excerpt from the latest CRS summary Aug 5, 2026 Congress.gov
Open official Congress.gov recordSource-linked procedural record
Bill journey
This is a chronology, not a progress score. Politically.com does not classify stages or infer what comes next. Records sharing a date are grouped because not every source field supplies a time.
Congress.gov Recently refreshed
U.S. Senate XML Recently refreshed
-
Introduction Congress.gov
Introduced
Introduced in the Senate.
Open bill recordOfficial action Congress.gov
Introduced in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time.
Open bill recordOfficial action Congress.gov
Introduced in Senate
Open bill record -
Official action Congress.gov
Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 547.
Open bill recordText version Congress.gov
Placed on Calendar Senate
A dated text-version record is available.
Open text record -
Official action Congress.gov
Cloture on the motion to proceed to the measure not invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 52 - 46. Record Vote Number: 231.
Open bill recordOfficial action Congress.gov
Cloture motion on the motion to proceed to the measure presented in Senate. (CR S4556)
Open bill recordOfficial action Congress.gov
Motion to proceed to consideration of measure made in Senate. (CR S4556)
Open bill recordSenate roll call U.S. Senate XML · 8:36 am UTC
Senate roll 231
On Cloture on the Motion to Proceed
Open Senate roll call
View the complete bill journey as an accessible table
| Date and time | Record | Official detail | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| IntroductionIntroduced | Introduced in the Senate. | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionIntroduced in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time. | No additional detail supplied.Calendars · Senate | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionIntroduced in Senate | No additional detail supplied.IntroReferral · Library of Congress · Code 10000 | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionRead the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 547. | No additional detail supplied.Calendars · Senate | Congress.gov | |
| Text versionPlaced on Calendar Senate | A dated text-version record is available. | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionCloture on the motion to proceed to the measure not invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 52 - 46. Record Vote Number: 231. | No additional detail supplied.Floor · Senate | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionCloture motion on the motion to proceed to the measure presented in Senate. (CR S4556) | No additional detail supplied.Floor · Senate | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionMotion to proceed to consideration of measure made in Senate. (CR S4556) | No additional detail supplied.Floor · Senate | Congress.gov | |
| Senate roll callSenate roll 231 | On Cloture on the Motion to ProceedCloture on the Motion to Proceed Rejected | U.S. Senate XML |
House roll calls join only on matching Congress, legislation type, and number. Senate roll calls join only on matching source-supplied document type and number, not question text. Committee and related-measure relationships have no date in their relationship records and therefore are counted above but never placed on the chronology.
Congressional Research Service
CRS summary
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.
Official documents
Text versions
- Placed on Calendar SenateAug 6, 2026