House members can now cast remote votes through the end of September, thanks to Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) Tuesday announcement. Pelosi wrote to her colleagues to inform them that because of the COVID-19 epidemic, House members will be able to vote by proxy until September 26.

Pelosi wrote in the letter that she was extending the “covered period” established on January 4, 2021, following section 3(s) of House Resolution 8, until September 26, 2022. “In light of the attached notification by the Sergeant-at-Arms, in consultation with the Office of Attending Physician, that a public health emergency is in effect due to a novel coronavirus, I am hereby extending the “covered period” until September 26, 2022,” she said.

If Pelosi had not given the House an extension, remote voting would have ceased on August 12.

In May 2020, House Democrats implemented proxy voting for the first time to react to the COVID-19 outbreak. Since then, Pelosi has repeatedly increased the time frame for remote voting, citing “the public health emergency linked to the new coronavirus.” Only 45 days can pass without authorizing a proxy vote.

Over the past two years, legislators have used the option to vote via proxy. The extension comes despite the Capitol’s rejection of more coronavirus-related legislation. Masks are no longer required within the structure, and tours have resumed.

If Republicans win the House in the upcoming midterm elections in November, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has threatened numerous times to abolish proxy voting.