Election Mail Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2987 To amend title 39, United States Code, and the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to improve procedures and requirements related to election mail. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 27, 2023 Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia (for herself, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. CROCKETT, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. NORTON, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. TRONE, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. MULLIN, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. TOKUDA, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. ESPAILLAT, and Mr. LANDSMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, 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 amend title 39, United States Code, and the Help Amer- ica Vote Act of 2002 to improve procedures and require- ments related to election mail. 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’’. 4 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2987.IH H2987 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 2987 IH SEC. 2. SAME-DAY PROCESSING OF ABSENTEE BALLOTS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 34 of title 39, United 2 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 3 lowing: 4 ‘‘§ 3407. Same-day processing of ballots 5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Postal Service shall ensure, 6 to the maximum extent practicable, that any ballot carried 7 by the Postal Service is processed by and cleared from 8 any postal facility or post office on the same day that the 9 ballot is received by that postal facility or post office. 10 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 11 ‘‘(1) the term ‘ballot’ means any ballot trans- 12 mitted by a voter by mail in an election for Federal 13 office, but does not include any ballot covered by 14 section 3406; and 15 ‘‘(2) the term ‘election for Federal office’ means 16 a general, special, primary, or runoff election for the 17 office of President or Vice President, or of Senator 18 or Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Com- 19 missioner to, the Congress.’’. 20 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 21 (1) CHAPTER HEADING.—The heading for 22 chapter 34 of title 39, United States Code, is 23 amended by striking ‘‘ARMED FORCES AND 24 FREE POSTAGE’’ and inserting ‘‘ARMED 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2987.IH H2987 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 2987 IH FORCES; FREE POSTAGE; ELECTION 1 MAIL’’. 2 (2) TABLE OF CHAPTERS.—The table of chap- 3 ters for part IV of title 39, United States Code, is 4 amended by striking the item relating to chapter 34 5 and inserting the following: 6 ‘‘34. Armed Forces; Free Postage; Election Mail .................. 3401’’. (3) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections 7 for chapter 34 of title 39, United States Code, is 8 amended by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘3407. Same-day processing of ballots.’’. (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 10 this subsection shall apply to absentee ballots relating to 11 an election for Federal office occurring on or after the 12 date that is 60 days after the date of enactment of this 13 Act. 14 SEC. 3. INTELLIGENT MAIL BARCODES FOR BALLOTS. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help America 16 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081) is amended— 17 (1) by redesignating section 311 and section 18 312 as sections 321 and 322, respectively; 19 (2) by redesignating subtitle B as subtitle C; 20 and 21 (3) by inserting after subtitle A the following 22 new subtitle: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2987.IH H2987 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 2987 IH ‘‘Subtitle B—Requirements 1 Relating to Mailed Ballots 2 ‘‘SEC. 311. USE OF INTELLIGENT MAIL BARCODES. 3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State and jurisdiction shall 4 provide with each ballot for an election for Federal office 5 that is sent by mail a return envelope that contains an 6 intelligent mail barcode, as prescribed by the United 7 States Postal Service. 8 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to 9 any ballot for which a State or jurisdiction uses an alter- 10 native system that enables voters to track the ballot 11 through the mail. 12 ‘‘(c) STATE.—For purposes of this section, the term 13 ‘State’ includes the District of Columbia, the Common- 14 wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the 15 United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of 16 the Northern Mariana Islands. 17 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirements of this 18 section shall apply to elections for Federal office occurring 19 on or after January 1, 2024.’’. 20 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 401 of the Help Amer- 21 ica Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21111) is amended by 22 inserting ‘‘or the requirements relating to mailed ballots 23 under subtitle B of title III’’ before the period at the end. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2987.IH H2987 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 2987 IH (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 321(a) of 1 such Act (52 U.S.C. 21101), as redesignated by sub- 2 section (a), is amended by striking ‘‘section 312’’ and in- 3 serting ‘‘section 322’’. 4 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of contents 5 of such Act is amended— 6 (1) by striking ‘‘Subtitle B—Voluntary’’ and in- 7 serting ‘‘Subtitle C—Voluntary’’; 8 (2) by redesignating the items relating to sec- 9 tions 311 and 312 as relating to sections 321 and 10 322, respectively; and 11 (3) by inserting after the item relating to sec- 12 tion 305 the following: 13 ‘‘Subtitle B—Requirements Relating to Mailed Ballots ‘‘Sec. 311. Use of intelligent mail barcodes.’’. SEC. 4. ELECTION MAIL AND DELIVERY IMPROVEMENTS. 14 (a) POSTMARK REQUIRED FOR BALLOTS.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 34 of title 39, 16 United States Code, as amended by section 2, is 17 amended by adding at the end the following: 18 ‘‘§ 3408. Postmark required for ballots 19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any absentee bal- 20 lot carried by the Postal Service, the Postal Service shall 21 indicate on the ballot envelope, using a postmark or other- 22 wise— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2987.IH H2987 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 2987 IH ‘‘(1) the fact that the ballot was carried by the 1 Postal Service; and 2 ‘‘(2) the date on which the ballot was mailed. 3 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 4 ‘‘(1) the term ‘absentee ballot’ means any ballot 5 transmitted by a voter by mail in an election for 6 Federal office, but does not include any ballot cov- 7 ered by section 3406; and 8 ‘‘(2) the term ‘election for Federal office’ means 9 a general, special, primary, or runoff election for the 10 office of President or Vice President, or of Senator 11 or Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Com- 12 missioner to, the Congress.’’. 13 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND- 14 MENT.—The table of sections for chapter 34 of title 15 39, United States Code, as amended by section 2, is 16 amended by adding at the end the following: 17 ‘‘3408. Postmark required for ballots.’’. (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 18 by this subsection shall apply to absentee ballots re- 19 lating to an election for Federal office occurring on 20 or after the date that is 60 days after the date of 21 enactment of this Act. 22 (b) GREATER VISIBILITY FOR BALLOTS.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title III of the 24 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2987.IH H2987 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 2987 IH et seq.), as added by section 3, is amended by add- 1 ing at the end the following new section: 2 ‘‘SEC. 312. BALLOT VISIBILITY. 3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State or local election offi- 4 cial shall— 5 ‘‘(1) affix Tag 191, Domestic and International 6 Mail-In Ballots (or any successor tag designated by 7 the United States Postal Service), to any tray or 8 sack of official ballots relating to an election for 9 Federal office that is destined for a domestic or 10 international address; 11 ‘‘(2) use the Official Election Mail logo to des- 12 ignate official ballots relating to an election for Fed- 13 eral office that is destined for a domestic or inter- 14 national address; and 15 ‘‘(3) if an intelligent mail barcode (as described 16 in section 311) is utilized for any official ballot re- 17 lating to an election for Federal office that is des- 18 tined for a domestic or international address, ensure 19 the specific ballot service type identifier for such 20 mail is visible. 21 ‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirements of this 22 section shall apply to elections for Federal office occurring 23 on and after the date that is 60 days after the date of 24 enactment of this section.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2987.IH H2987 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 2987 IH (2) ISSUANCE OF VOLUNTARY GUIDANCE BY 1 ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION.—Section 2 321(b) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21101(b)), as redes- 3 ignated by section 3, is amended— 4 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para- 5 graph (2); 6 (B) by striking the period at the end of 7 paragraph (3) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 8 (C) by adding at the end the following new 9 paragraph: 10 ‘‘(4) in the case of the recommendations with 11 respect to section 312, the date described in section 12 312(b).’’. 13 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con- 14 tents of such Act, as amended by section 3, is 15 amended by inserting after the item relating to sec- 16 tion 311 the following new item: 17 ‘‘Sec. 312. Ballot visibility.’’. SEC. 5. CARRIAGE OF ELECTION MAIL. 18 (a) TREATMENT OF ELECTION MAIL.— 19 (1) TREATMENT AS FIRST-CLASS MAIL; FREE 20 POSTAGE.—Chapter 34 of title 39, United States 21 Code, as amended by section 4(a), is amended by 22 adding at the end the following: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2987.IH H2987 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 2987 IH ‘‘§ 3409. Domestic election mail; restriction of oper- 1 ational changes prior to elections 2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 3 ‘‘(1) ELECTION FOR FEDERAL OFFICE.—The 4 term ‘election for Federal office’ means a general, 5 special, primary, or runoff election for the office of 6 President or Vice President, or of Senator or Rep- 7 resentative in, or Delegate or Resident Commis- 8 sioner to, the Congress. 9 ‘‘(2) ELECTION MAIL.—The term ‘election mail’ 10 means— 11 ‘‘(A) a blank or completed voter registra- 12 tion application form, voter registration card, or 13 similar materials, relating to an election for 14 Federal office; 15 ‘‘(B) a blank or completed absentee and 16 other mail-in ballot application form, and a 17 blank or completed absentee or other mail-in 18 ballot, relating to an election for Federal office, 19 and 20 ‘‘(C) other materials relating to an election 21 for Federal office that are mailed by a State or 22 local election official to an individual who is 23 registered to vote. 24 ‘‘(b) CARRIAGE OF ELECTION MAIL.—Election mail 25 (other than balloting materials covered under section 3406 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2987.IH H2987 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 2987 IH (relating to the Uniformed and Overseas Absentee Voting 1 Act)), individually or in bulk, shall be carried in accord- 2 ance with the service standards established for first-class 3 mail under section 3691. 4 ‘‘(c) NO POSTAGE REQUIRED FOR COMPLETED BAL- 5 LOTS.—Completed absentee or other mail-in ballots (other 6 than balloting materials covered under section 3406 (relat- 7 ing to the Uniformed and Overseas Absentee Voting Act)) 8 shall be carried free of postage. 9 ‘‘(d) RESTRICTION OF OPERATIONAL CHANGES.— 10 During the 120-day period that ends on the date of an 11 election for Federal office, the Postal Service may not 12 carry out any operational change that would restrict the 13 prompt and reliable delivery of election mail. This sub- 14 section applies to operational changes which include— 15 ‘‘(1) removing or eliminating any mail collection 16 box without immediately replacing it; and 17 ‘‘(2) removing, decommissioning, or any other 18 form of stopping the operation of mail sorting ma- 19 chines, other than for routine maintenance. 20 ‘‘(e) ELECTION MAIL COORDINATOR.—The Postal 21 Service shall appoint an Election Mail Coordinator at each 22 area office and district office to facilitate relevant informa- 23 tion sharing with State, territorial, local, and Tribal elec- 24 tion officials in regards to the mailing of election mail.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2987.IH H2987 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 2987 IH (2) REIMBURSEMENT OF POSTAL SERVICE FOR 1 REVENUE FORGONE.—Section 2401(c) of title 39, 2 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘sec- 3 tions 3217 and 3403 through 3406’’ and inserting 4 ‘‘sections 3217, 3403 through 3406, and 3409’’. 5 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 6 The table of sections for chapter 34 of title 39, United 7 States Code, as amended by section 4(a), is amended by 8 adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘3409. Domestic election mail; restriction of operational changes prior to elec- tions.’’. (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 10 this section shall take effect upon the expiration of the 11 180-day period that begins on the date of enactment of 12 this section. 13 SEC. 6. UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE CONSULTATION. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Postmaster General shall 15 consult with Indian Tribes, on an annual basis, regarding 16 issues relating to the United States Postal Service that 17 present barriers to voting for eligible voters living on In- 18 dian lands. 19 (b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 20 (1) INDIAN LANDS.—The term ‘‘Indian lands’’ 21 means— 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2987.IH H2987 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 2987 IH (A) any Indian country, as such term is 1 defined in section 1151 of title 18, United 2 Stat [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]