Ballot Harvesting Ban Act

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Policy Status

  • Type: Model Policy
  • Status: Draft
  • Date Introduced: July 23, 2026

Task Forces

  • Process and Procedures

    • Tags

  • 2026 Annual Meeting

    • Summary

    The Ballot Harvesting Ban prohibits the mass trafficking of absentee ballots. Ballot harvesting is notoriously unsecure and sews doubt into the state's election administration system. 
    Draft

    Ballot Harvesting Ban Act

    BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF: ________________:  =

    Section 1 is enacted to read:  

    • (A) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly possesses an absentee ballot or carrier envelope that was provided to or intended to be provided to another voter. This section does not apply to a person who, on the date of the offense, was:   
      1. the voter’s mother, father, grandparent, aunt, uncle, brother, sister, spouse, son, daughter, niece, nephew, grandchild, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law;   
      2. physically residing in the same dwelling as the voter;   
      3. an election worker;   
      4. a person who possessed the ballot or envelope solely for the purpose of lawfully assisting an elector who was eligible for assistance pursuant to [relevant code section] and complied fully with applicable laws governing the providing of assistance to an absentee voter.   
      5. an employee of the United States Postal Service working in the normal course of the employee’s authorized duties; or  
      6. a common or contract carrier working in the normal course of the carrier’s authorized duties.   
    • (B) An offense under subsection (A) is a [felony] unless the defendant possessed the ballot or envelope without the request of the voter, in which case it is a [felony of the [third] degree].   
    • (C) If conduct that constitutes an offense under this section also constitutes an offense under any other law, the actor may be prosecuted under this section, the other law, or both.