Hickenlooper, Bennet, Padilla, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Protect Vote-by-Mail from Trump’s Attacks

Legislation comes after Senate Democrats blocked the president's voter suppression bill, SAVE Act

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper, Michael Bennet, Alex Padilla, and 35 of their colleagues, introduced the Mail and Absentee Voter Protection Act to block President Trump's illegal and unconstitutional executive order that attacks mail and absentee ballots.

The senators' push to protect the right to vote by mail comes after Senate Democrats blocked Trump's voter suppression bill and the president responded by signing an executive order to illegally re-write federal election rules and require the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to decide which voters may cast ballots by mail.

"In Colorado, mail-in voting has increased turnout, lowered costs, and is verifiably safer and more secure," said Hickenlooper. "The president's attempts to rig the election and attack our right to vote are illegal. We will stop them."

"President Trump's desperate attempt to undermine U.S. elections through an unconstitutional executive order targeting mail and absentee ballots is an insult to anyone who believes in the rule of law," said Bennet. "Colorado has a gold-standard election system and consistently ranks among the states with the highest voter participation in the country. We will fight tooth and nail to protect every citizen's right to vote by mail-Democrat, Republican, or unaffiliated. This Administration's effort to disenfranchise voters must be stopped."

"In a country founded on the ideals of 'We, the People,' in which the right to vote is fundamental to who we are as a nation - people shouldn't have to work too hard to have their voices heard and their votes counted," said Padilla. "Instead of focusing on lowering costs, ending the illegal war in Iran and bringing our troops home, and improving the lives of Americans across the country, too many Republicans in Congress are shamefully focused on making it more difficult for Americans to cast their ballots in November. Democrats are full court press on pushing back against these blatant attempts to silence the American people."

Specifically, the Absentee MVP Act would nullify Trump's unlawful March 31 executive order (EO) and bars any similar EO. It also provides additional limits on the Trump administration's attempts to implement the actions in the illegal EO by:

• Blocking the Department of Justice (DOJ) and DHS from sharing state voter lists

• Defunding the DOJ's efforts to compel production of state voter lists

• Enforcing the Privacy Act by barring federal agencies from improperly sharing voter data, both within the government and with outside groups

• Defunding any future Commerce Department efforts to enact partisan regulation of mail in ballots

Hickenlooper has consistently opposed the SAVE Act since last year and helped block Senate Republicans' efforts to jam through Trump's voter suppression. Specifically, the SAVE America Act would challenge Colorado's vote by mail system, which Hickenlooper helped create as governor. In Colorado, 98% of all Colorado voters submitted mail-in ballots in the 2025 election. The SAVE America Act would make it more challenging for Coloradans, regardless of party affiliation, to vote by mail. 98% of Colorado Republicans voted by mail in 2025, and 90% of Colorado Republicans voted by mail during the 2024 Presidential election.

Under Hickenlooper's leadership, Colorado became the first in the nation to conduct a bipartisan statewide audit after every election. Results from the audit over the last six years show Colorado vote-counting systems were more than 99.99% accurate.

Hickenlooper cosponsors several pieces of voting rights legislation, including the For the People Act, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and the Freedom to Vote Act.

Text of the bill available HERE.

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