A state may not register anyone without proof
What the document says“Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, a State may not register an individual to vote in elections for Federal office held in the State unless, at the time the individual applies to register to vote, the individual provides documentary proof of United States citizenship.”
Inserted as a new subsection (j) of section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. It restates the requirement as a bar on the state and overrides the rest of that Act, where the entry above bars the state from accepting the application.
What the document actually says“Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, a State may not register an individual to vote in elections for Federal office held in the State unless, at the time the individual applies to register to vote, the individual provides documentary proof of United States citizenship.”
A state cannot sign you up to vote. Not unless you show proof that you are a citizen. You must show it when you ask to join.
The bill says the same thing twice, in two places, in two ways. One place says a state cannot take the form. This one says a state cannot sign the person up. It also says this rule beats the other rules in the older law.
Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections
2026-03-31 · 91 FR 17125
Both address whether only citizens are registered, and they choose opposite mechanisms. The Act would place the burden on the applicant to produce a document at the point of registration. The order places it on federal agencies to match existing records and supply states with citizenship lists, and states expressly that appearing on such a list does not register anyone.
1 agency rule
- Ballot Mail for Federal ElectionsPostal Service · August 26, 2026
Each of these names the order above in its own summary, preamble or filing. That is a fact about the document, not a finding that it carries out this proposal: it is one step further away than the order is, and what it does about the proposal is a reading nobody has made here.