I will continue to fight for the right of every eligible American to cast their vote free from federal interference.
Continue fighting to protect every eligible American's right to vote free from federal interference, including in mail-in voting.
Occurrences
Evidence
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GovInfo bill text lists H.R. 14 as introduced March 5, 2025, names Mr. Mfume among the Members introducing it, and says it was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. The bill title states it would amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to revise coverage criteria.
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The bill text treats as covered practices changes that reduce, consolidate, or relocate voting locations, including early, absentee, and election-day voting locations, and creates mechanisms to review voting changes that burden protected voters.
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Roll Call 260 was on passage of H.R. 4, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. The Clerk records the status as Passed, 219 yeas to 212 nays, and records Mfume, Democrat of Maryland, voting Yea.
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Roll Call 9 was on the motion to concur in the Senate amendment with a House amendment to H.R. 5746. The Clerk records the status as Passed, 220 yeas to 203 nays, and records Mfume, Democrat of Maryland, voting Yea.
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The House amendment text says the Act may be cited as the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act. Its voting-by-mail section says a state may not impose additional eligibility conditions for absentee voting by mail in federal elections, limits identification and notarization or witness requirements, provides ballot tracking, and requires completed absentee or mail-in ballots to be carried free of postage.
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The Senate vote was on invoking cloture on the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 5746. The required majority was three-fifths, and the vote result was Cloture Motion Rejected, with 49 yeas and 51 nays.
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Mfume led a letter to the Postmaster General about whether USPS faced pressure to restrict or interfere with mail-in ballot delivery and said he would continue to fight for eligible Americans to vote free from federal interference.
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USPS said its ballot-mail DMM proposal was in active litigation, including two injunctions on appeal, and that it would not publish a final rule unless the government obtained relief from all relevant injunctions.
Assessments
Mfume took concrete federal actions aligned with the promise, including supporting major voting-rights legislation and leading oversight on potential USPS interference with mail-in ballot delivery. However, the promised protection has not been fully delivered: the 2025 John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act remains in committee, prior broader voting-rights legislation failed in the Senate, and the USPS mail-ballot rule issue remains unresolved rather than permanently reversed or legislatively settled. This supports partial credit for same-office, same-term effort, not full delivery.
Mfume took concrete federal action consistent with the promise by voting for House-passed voting-rights legislation and being among the members introducing H.R. 14 in 2025, which addressed Voting Rights Act protections and voting-location changes including absentee voting access. However, the major federal protections, including national mail-in voting safeguards in the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act, were not enacted after Senate failure, and H.R. 14 had only been introduced/referred. This supports credit for continuing the fight in the same federal office term, but not full delivery of nationwide voting-rights protections.