United States 119th Congress Status: In Committee Bipartisan · 15 D · 1 I cosponsors

S 2589 — Expanding the VOTE Act

Last action — Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed Senate
  4. 4
    Passed House
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill is in committee in the Senate. Introduced July 31, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee vote, then a floor vote in the Senate.

Prognosis

Advancing 42% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Low

How often bills like it became law.

  • In Committee

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 16 sponsors

    1 primary, 15 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Bipartisan support

    Sponsored across 2 parties (15 D · 1 I) — cross-party backing.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Summary

Expanding the Voluntary Opportunities for Translations in Elections Act or the Expanding the VOTE ActThis bill expands access to voting materials for individuals with limited proficiency in the English language.Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) requires covered states and political subdivisions to provide voting materials and other language assistance to persons who are American Indian, Asian American, Alaskan Natives, or of Spanish heritage and whose ability to speak or understand English limits electoral participation. A state or political subdivision that is subject to Section 203 is prohibited from providing English-only voting materials in an election. Among other requirements, this bill (1) requires the Department of Justice to issue a notice of prohibition, including the trigger threshold at which the prohibition applies, to certain states and political subdivisions; and (2) requires covered states and political subdivisions to provide written translations of all voting materials, with the consent of any applicable tribal government, to election workers.Additionally, the bill requires the Election Assistance Commission to make incentive grants for states and political subdivisions to provide translated voting materials.The bill also directs the Government Accountability Office to study and report on the impact of (1) reducing the threshold requirement under Section 203 of the VRA, and (2) expanding the definition of language minorities to include native speakers of additional languages.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Introduced in Senate

  2. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 15 co-sponsors · 531 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (15)

Not signed on (531)

531 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 531 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

civil-rights elections
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does S 2589 do?
Expanding the Voluntary Opportunities for Translations in Elections Act or the Expanding the VOTE ActThis bill expands access to voting materials for individuals with limited proficiency in the English language.Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) requires covered states and political subdivisions to provide voting materials and other language assistance to persons who are American Indian, Asian American, Alaskan Natives, or of Spanish heritage and whose ability to speak or understand English limits electoral participation. A state or political subdivision that is subject to Section 203 is prohibited from providing English-only voting materials in an election. Among other requirements, this bill (1) requires the Department of Justice to issue a notice of prohibition, including the trigger threshold at which the prohibition applies, to certain states and political subdivisions; and (2) requires covered states and political subdivisions to provide written translations of all voting materials, with the consent of any applicable tribal government, to election workers.Additionally, the bill requires the Election Assistance Commission to make incentive grants for states and political subdivisions to provide translated voting materials.The bill also directs the Government Accountability Office to study and report on the impact of (1) reducing the threshold requirement under Section 203 of the VRA, and (2) expanding the definition of language minorities to include native speakers of additional languages.
Who sponsors S 2589?
S 2589 is sponsored by Padilla, Alex (Democratic), Klobuchar, Amy (Democratic), Warren, Elizabeth (Democratic), Markey, Edward J. (Democratic), Schiff, Adam B. (Democratic), Merkley, Jeff (Democratic), Blumenthal, Richard (Democratic), Luján, Ben Ray (Democratic), Gillibrand, Kirsten E. (Democratic), Smith, Tina (Democratic), Kim, Andy (Democratic), Baldwin, Tammy (Democratic), Sanders, Bernard (Independent), Wyden, Ron (Democratic), Booker, Cory A. (Democratic), and Hirono, Mazie K. (Democratic).
What is the current status of S 2589?
This bill is in committee in the Senate. Introduced July 31, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track S 2589?
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