# The UPDATE Act: Making Voter Registration Lists More Accurate

The UPDATE Act is about keeping voter registration lists up to date when people move. Right now, when someone changes their address with the Post Office, that information doesn't automatically get shared with election officials. This bill would require the U.S. Postal Service to send address change data to state election officials every 90 days so they can update their voter registration records. The idea is that if someone moves to a new state or new address, election officials will know about it and can remove them from the old location's voter rolls or update their registration.

This affects voters, election officials, and the Postal Service. For voters, the main impact is that your voter registration should stay more accurate if you move. Election officials won't have to spend as much time manually tracking down who has moved away. The bill sets aside $600,000 to cover the Postal Service's costs for sharing this data regularly.

The bill also provides $25 million in federal funding to help states maintain their voter registration systems. States can use this money to keep their voter databases current and accurate, with each state receiving a minimum payment to ensure smaller states aren't left behind. The money doesn't expire—states can use it whenever they need it for these registration maintenance activities.

Overall, this is a technical fix designed to make the voter registration process cleaner and more efficient by connecting two government systems that already have the information they need but aren't currently sharing it.

UPDATE Act

Van Drew, Jefferson

Updating Postal Data on Addresses for Trustworthy Elections Act or the UPDATE Act This bill requires the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to regularly provide chief state election officials with change-of-address information. Specifically, the USPS must provide this information within 90 days and every 90 days thereafter. Additionally, the Election Assistance Commission must make payments to states to maintain their computerized voter registration lists.