releases: http://veasey.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/veasey-introduces-legislation-to-make-absentee-voting-free-for-voters
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| http://veasey.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/veasey-introduces-legislation-to-make-absentee-voting-free-for-voters | Veasey Introduces Legislation to Make Absentee Voting Free for Voters | 2016-12-09 | 2016 | 2016-12 | Democrat | House | TX | Marc Veasey | V000131 | veasey.house.gov | legacy | Washington, D.C. – Congressman Marc Veasey, TX-33, co-chair of the Congressional Voting Rights Caucus, introduced H.R. 6494, the Postage Free Ballot Act, that will make mail-in absentee ballots free of charge for voters nationwide. Three years after the Supreme Court tasked Congress to update the 1965 Voting Rights Act, Rep. Veasey remains committed to making voting as accessible as possible for the American public. According to the Pew Research Center, a total of 6.3 million Americans mailed in their ballots in the 2012 Presidential Election. While the figures for the total of absentee ballots cast in the 2016 election are still being compiled, it is estimated that millions of Americans voted through an absentee ballot. This resulted in Americans paying millions of dollars in postage to mail back their ballots to their elected officials. Given that the 24th Amendment eliminated the practice of poll taxes, any cost to participate in our democracy should be eliminated. “Since my days in the Texas state legislature, I have worked tirelessly to protect the right to vote for all Americans,” Congressman Veasey said. “Mail-in ballots are meant to make voting more accessible, so we must work to ensure that these voters do not face additional hurdles to exercise their constitutionally protected right to vote.” Congressman Marc Veasey serves as co-chair of the Congressional Voting Rights Caucus which was founded to educate the public on the current voter suppression tactics in place in their home states, districts, and counties, inform constituencies on their rights as voters, and to create and advance legislation that blocks current and future suppressive and discriminatory tactics that deny American citizens the sacred right to vote. As the lead plaintiff in Veasey v. Abbott, Veasey also successfully challenged Texas’ restrictive voter ID law. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |