Election Mail Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8344 To require the United States Postal Service to treat election mail as first- class mail and deliver such mail at no cost to the sender, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 Ms. LOFGREN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To require the United States Postal Service to treat election mail as first-class mail and deliver such mail at no cost to the sender, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Election Mail Act of 4 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. ELECTION MAIL. 6 (a) TREATMENT OF ELECTION MAIL.— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8344.IH H8344 ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8344 IH (1) TREATMENT AS FIRST-CLASS MAIL; FREE 1 POSTAGE.—Chapter 34 of title 39, United States 2 Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 3 lowing: 4 ‘‘§ 3407. Domestic election mail 5 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘election 6 mail’— 7 ‘‘(1) means— 8 ‘‘(A) a blank or completed voter registra- 9 tion application form, voter registration card, or 10 similar materials, relating to an election for 11 Federal office; 12 ‘‘(B) a blank or completed absentee and 13 other mail-in ballot application form, and a 14 blank or completed absentee or other mail-in 15 ballot, relating to an election for Federal office; 16 and 17 ‘‘(C) other materials relating to an election 18 for Federal office that are mailed by a State or 19 local election official to an individual who is 20 registered to vote; and 21 ‘‘(2) does not include balloting materials cov- 22 ered under section 3406 (relating to the Uniformed 23 and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8344.IH H8344 ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8344 IH ‘‘(b) CARRIAGE OF ELECTION MAIL.—Election mail 1 (individually or in bulk) shall be carried— 2 ‘‘(1) in accordance with the service standards 3 established for first-class mail under section 3691; 4 and 5 ‘‘(2) free of postage. 6 ‘‘(c) POSTMARK REQUIRED FOR BALLOTS.—In the 7 case of any election mail carried by the Postal Service that 8 consists of a ballot, the Postal Service shall indicate on 9 the ballot envelope, using a postmark or otherwise— 10 ‘‘(1) the fact that the ballot was carried by the 11 Postal Service; and 12 ‘‘(2) the date on which the ballot was mailed.’’. 13 (2) REIMBURSEMENT OF POSTAL SERVICE FOR 14 REVENUE FORGONE.—Section 2401(c) of title 39, 15 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘3406’’ 16 and inserting ‘‘3407’’. 17 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 18 The table of sections for chapter 34 of title 39, United 19 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 20 lowing: 21 ‘‘3407. Domestic election mail.’’. (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 23 this section shall apply to election mail relating to 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8344.IH H8344 ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8344 IH an election for Federal office occurring on or after 1 January 1, 2022. 2 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO APPLI- 3 CATION TO 2020 GENERAL ELECTION.—It is the 4 sense of Congress that the United States Postal 5 Service should make all reasonable efforts to comply 6 with subsections (b)(1) and (c) of section 3407 of 7 title 39, United States Code, as added by subsection 8 (a)(1) of this section, with respect to election mail 9 relating to the general election for Federal office in 10 2020. 11 SEC. 3. INTELLIGENT MAIL BARCODES FOR BALLOTS. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help America 13 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081) is amended by adding 14 at the end the following new subtitle: 15 ‘‘Subtitle C—Requirements 16 Relating to Mailed Ballots 17 ‘‘SEC. 321. USE OF INTELLIGENT MAIL BARCODES. 18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State and jurisdiction shall 19 provide with each ballot for an election for Federal office 20 that is sent by mail a return envelope that contains an 21 intelligent mail barcode, as prescribed by the United 22 States Postal Service. 23 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to 24 any ballot for which a State or jurisdiction uses an alter- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8344.IH H8344 ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8344 IH native system that enables voters to track the ballot 1 through the mail. 2 ‘‘(c) STATE.—For purposes of this section, the term 3 ‘State’ includes the District of Columbia, the Common- 4 wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the 5 United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of 6 the Northern Mariana Islands.’’. 7 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 401 of the Help Amer- 8 ica Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21111) is amended by 9 inserting ‘‘or the requirements for mailed ballots under 10 subtitle C of title III’’ before the period at the end. 11 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 12 of such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating 13 to section 312 the following: 14 ‘‘Subtitle C—Requirements Relating to Mailed Ballots ‘‘Sec. 321. Use of intelligent mail barcodes.’’. SEC. 4. DEADLINES FOR BALLOTS SUBMITTED BY MAIL. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title III of the Help 16 America Vote Act of 2002, as added by section 3, is 17 amended by adding at the end the following new section: 18 ‘‘SEC. 322. DEADLINE FOR BALLOTS SUBMITTED BY MAIL. 19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State and jurisdiction shall 20 count a ballot submitted by an individual by mail with re- 21 spect to an election for Federal office in the State— 22 ‘‘(1) if it is postmarked, signed, or otherwise in- 23 dicated by the United States Postal Service to have 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8344.IH H8344 ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8344 IH been mailed on or before the close of polls on the 1 date of the election; and 2 ‘‘(2) received by the appropriate State election 3 official on or before the date that is 10 days after 4 the date of such election. 5 ‘‘(b) NO INFERENCE.—Nothing in this section shall 6 be construed as prohibiting a State or jurisdiction from 7 having a law that allows for counting ballots in an election 8 for Federal office that are received through the mail after 9 the date that is 10 days after the date of the election.’’. 10 (b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—Title IV of the 11 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21111 et seq.) 12 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 13 ‘‘SEC. 403. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION FOR VIOLATIONS OF 14 MAIL-IN BALLOT DEADLINE. 15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a violation of sec- 16 tion 322, section 402 shall not apply and any person who 17 is aggrieved by such violation may provide written notice 18 of the violation to the chief election official of the State 19 involved. 20 ‘‘(b) RELIEF.—If the violation is not corrected within 21 5 days after receipt of the notice, the aggrieved person 22 may, in a civil action, obtain declaratory or injunctive re- 23 lief with respect to the violation. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8344.IH H8344 ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8344 IH ‘‘(c) NOTICE NOT REQUIRED.—The aggrieved person 1 need not provide notice to the chief election official of the 2 State involved under subsection (a) before bringing a civil 3 action under subsection (b).’’. 4 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of contents 5 of such Act, as amended by section 3, is amended— 6 (1) by inserting after the item relating to sec- 7 tion 321 the following new item: 8 ‘‘Sec. 322. Deadline for ballots submitted by mail.’’; and 9 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec- 10 tion 402 the following: 11 ‘‘Sec. 403. Private right of action for violations of mail-in ballot deadline.’’. SEC. 5. GREATER VISIBILITY FOR BALLOTS. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title III of the Help 13 America Vote Act of 2002, as added by section 3 and 14 amended by section 4, is amended by adding at the end 15 the following new section: 16 ‘‘SEC. 323. BALLOT VISIBILITY. 17 ‘‘Each State or local election official shall— 18 ‘‘(1) affix Tag 191, Domestic and International 19 Mail-In Ballots (or any successor tag designated by 20 the United States Postal Service), to any tray or 21 sack of ballot mail relating to an election for Federal 22 office that is destined for a domestic or international 23 address; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8344.IH H8344 ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8344 IH ‘‘(2) use the Official Election Mail logo to des- 1 ignate mail pieces relating to an election for Federal 2 office that is destined for a domestic or international 3 address; and 4 ‘‘(3) if an intelligent mail barcode (as described 5 in section 321) is utilized for any mail relating to an 6 election for Federal office that is destined for a do- 7 mestic or international address, ensure the specific 8 ballot service type identifier for such mail is visi- 9 ble.’’. 10 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 11 for such Act, as amended by sections 3 and 4, is amended 12 by inserting after the item relating to section 322 the fol- 13 lowing new item: 14 ‘‘Sec. 323. Ballot visibility.’’. SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title III of the Help 16 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20901 et seq.), as 17 added by section 3 and amended by sections 4 and 5, is 18 amended by adding at the end the following new section: 19 ‘‘SEC. 324. EFFECTIVE DATE. 20 ‘‘The requirements of this subtitle shall apply to elec- 21 tions for Federal office occurring on and after January 22 1, 2022.’’. 23 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 24 for such Act, as amended by sections 3, 4, and 5, is 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8344.IH H8344 ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8344 IH amended by inserting after the item relating to section 1 323 the following new item: 2 ‘‘Sec. 324. Effective date.’’. (c) SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO APPLICATION 3 TO 2020 GENERAL ELECTION.—It is the sense of Con- 4 gress that States and jurisdictions should make all reason- 5 able efforts to comply with the provisions of subtitle C of 6 title III of the Help America Vote Act of 2002, as added 7 by this Act, for the general election for Federal office in 8 2020. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8344.IH H8344 ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS