John,
Congress’s new budget sets aside just $15 million for election administration in 2026. That is less than $300,000 per state.[1] In 2020, the funding was $825 million. This cut is happening while election officials are still working with outdated machines, battling AI-driven lies, and confronting restrictive voting laws designed to keep communities of color and young people from the polls.
The same lawmakers who wrote this budget had no trouble putting trillions of dollars on the national credit card to pay for tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefited the rich and powerful, including billionaires and big corporations. They will borrow without hesitation to protect the wealthy, yet they claim the country cannot afford secure, accessible elections.
Federal underfunding forces rural and low-income areas to rely on meager local budgets. The result is closed polling sites, long lines, and fewer resources to safeguard the vote. This is exactly how the billionaire donor class tightens its grip, weakening the infrastructure of democracy so their $2.6 billion in political spending can have maximum impact.[2]
Congress must make a choice to stand with voters, not the billionaires who buy influence to protect their tax breaks.
Tell Congress to stand up for voting rights and fully fund our elections.
If this budget stands, the damage will be immediate and long-lasting. Underfunded elections mean more barriers for voters and more opportunities for those who already dominate the political system to shape outcomes in their favor.
We have already seen how it works. In Montana, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, billionaire cash made up more than half of GOP outside spending in the 2024 elections. That level of influence is possible because the public systems that ensure fair elections are deliberately starved of resources.
The principle is simple: every eligible voter, regardless of income or ZIP code, should have the same access to the ballot. Anything less opens the door wider for billionaires to control who votes, how votes are counted, and whose voices are heard.
If Congress can find trillions for tax cuts mostly for the wealthy, it can find $825 million to properly fund our elections.
Tell Congress to block any proposal that defunds our freedom to vote.
Let’s defend our democracy from billionaire rule and make every vote count.
John Foti
Legislative Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund
[1] U.S. Election Assistance Commission, Fiscal Year 2026, Congressional Budget Justification
[2] Billionaires Buying Elections: They’ve Come to Collect
