On Thursday, House Republicans introduced a comprehensive elections reform proposal that would enforce requirements such as showing photo identification when voting and verifying citizenship during voter registration.

Titled the “Make Elections Great Again (MEGA) Act,” this initiative is spearheaded by Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), Chair of the House Administration Committee. The bill represents a progression from previous election reform efforts by House Republicans, including the American Confidence in Elections (ACE) Act.

“Americans deserve confidence in the integrity of their elections, which includes straightforward measures like voter ID, maintaining accurate voter rolls, and verifying citizenship,” Steil expressed in a statement. “These changes will enhance voter trust, strengthen election integrity, and ensure that voting is simple yet secure.”

Beyond mandating photo ID and citizenship verification, the bill proposes new regulations on state-run election systems. These areas have been contentious since the 2020 election, partly fueling former President Trump’s allegations of widespread election fraud.

The legislation also stipulates that mail-in ballots must be received by the close of polls on Election Day to be counted, with an exception for military personnel stationed overseas. Currently, several states allow mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted if received shortly after, which has sometimes delayed results in states like California, where mail-in voting is prevalent.

It would require states to use auditable paper ballots for a federal election. The vast majority of federal ballots are already cast on paper, with a 2024 Brennan Center analysis estimating that 98 percent of ballots would use paper ballots in that year’s presidential election.

It would also implement stronger routine voter list maintenance requirements, and ban universal vote by mail systems by requiring voters to affirmatively request a ballot to vote by mail.

“Ballot harvesting,” the practice of collecting and delivering completed ballots and delivering them to polling centers, would also be prohibited for anyone who is not an immediate family member or caregiver of an individual. It would also prohibit a person from distributing or delivering more than four mail-in ballots at a time.

The bill would prohibit federal agencies from using taxpayer funds to promote voter registration, in reference to former President Joe Biden’s 2021 executive order directing agencies to help the public register to vote, with Republicans deeming the practice “BidenBucks.”

The bill would also ban ranked choice voting in federal elections. The system, in which voters rank their top choices of candidates rather than voting for a single person, is used in some statewide elections in Maine and in Alaska and a smattering of local elections across the country.

Unveiling of the bill comes a day after Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters that another GOP elections bill that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, will come to the Senate floor “at some point.” The bill has previously passed the House, and Thune said lawmakers are working to add a requirement ensuring only residents can cast a ballot, not just register.

The Make Elections Great Again Act is endorsed by numerous conservative election reform activists.

“I’ve spent the last decade registering voters across the country and empowering Americans to vote. Without fair elections, we aren’t a free nation,” Scott Presler, founder of Early Vote Action, said in a statement. “Thank you to Chairman Steil for his leadership on comprehensive election reform. Let’s make elections great again!”

It also got stamps of approval from Jason Snead, director Honest Elections Project Action; J. Christian Adams, President of the Public Interest Legal Foundation and Commissioner on the United States Commission of Civil Rights; and Justin Riemer, president and CEO of Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections.