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House Administration subcommittee hears competing views on updating the NVRA
Summary
Witnesses and members debated potential updates to the National Voter Registration Act, focusing on clarifying list-maintenance standards, the NVRA's quiet period, citizenship verification and whether expanding roll-cleanup authority risks disenfranchising eligible voters.
Chairwoman Lee and ranking members of the House Administration Subcommittee on Elections convened a hearing to examine potential updates to the National Voter Registration Act on Jan. 9, 2026, hearing testimony from legal and voting-rights experts about how to balance accurate voter rolls with access to the ballot.
The hearing opened with Chairwoman Lee framing the panel's agenda as a modernization effort. She said that while the NVRA increased registration and reduced barriers, some language is now ambiguous and creates obstacles for election officials. "The NVRA does not currently require an applicant to prove their citizenship beyond an attestation clause and a signature," she said, and cited a recent case in Maryland involving an individual who registered twice as an example of why Congress should review the law.
Why it matters: Members and witnesses agreed on two goals'accurate lists and accessible…
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