Election Mail Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1391 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 1, 2023 Ms. KLOBUCHAR introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration 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 SEC. 2. SAME-DAY PROCESSING OF ABSENTEE BALLOTS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 34 of title 39, United 6 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 7 lowing: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1391.IS S1391 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1391 IS ‘‘§ 3407. Same-day processing of ballots 1 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Postal Service shall ensure, 2 to the maximum extent practicable, that any ballot carried 3 by the Postal Service is processed by and cleared from 4 any postal facility or post office on the same day that the 5 ballot is received by that postal facility or post office. 6 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 7 ‘‘(1) the term ‘ballot’ means any ballot trans- 8 mitted by a voter by mail in an election for Federal 9 office, but does not include any ballot covered by 10 section 3406; and 11 ‘‘(2) the term ‘election for Federal office’ means 12 a general, special, primary, or runoff election for the 13 office of President or Vice President, or of Senator 14 or Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Com- 15 missioner to, the Congress.’’. 16 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 17 (1) CHAPTER HEADING.—The heading for 18 chapter 34 of title 39, United States Code, is 19 amended by striking ‘‘ARMED FORCES AND 20 FREE POSTAGE’’ and inserting ‘‘ARMED 21 FORCES; FREE POSTAGE; ELECTION 22 MAIL’’. 23 (2) TABLE OF CHAPTERS.—The table of chap- 24 ters for part IV of title 39, United States Code, is 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1391.IS S1391 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1391 IS amended by striking the item relating to chapter 34 1 and inserting the following: 2 ‘‘34. Armed Forces; Free Postage; Election Mail .................. 3401’’. (3) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections 3 for chapter 34 of title 39, United States Code, is 4 amended by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘3407. Same-day processing of ballots.’’. (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 6 this subsection shall apply to absentee ballots relating to 7 an election for Federal office occurring on or after the 8 date that is 60 days after the date of enactment of this 9 Act. 10 SEC. 3. INTELLIGENT MAIL BARCODES FOR BALLOTS. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help America 12 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081) is amended— 13 (1) by redesignating section 311 and section 14 312 as sections 321 and 322, respectively; 15 (2) by redesignating subtitle B as subtitle C; 16 and 17 (3) by inserting after subtitle A the following 18 new subtitle: 19 ‘‘Subtitle B—Requirements 20 Relating to Mailed Ballots 21 ‘‘SEC. 311. USE OF INTELLIGENT MAIL BARCODES. 22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State and jurisdiction shall 23 provide with each ballot for an election for Federal office 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1391.IS S1391 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1391 IS that is sent by mail a return envelope that contains an 1 intelligent mail barcode, as prescribed by the United 2 States Postal Service. 3 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to 4 any ballot for which a State or jurisdiction uses an alter- 5 native system that enables voters to track the ballot 6 through the mail. 7 ‘‘(c) STATE.—For purposes of this section, the term 8 ‘State’ includes the District of Columbia, the Common- 9 wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the 10 United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of 11 the Northern Mariana Islands. 12 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirements of this 13 section shall apply to elections for Federal office occurring 14 on or after January 1, 2024.’’. 15 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 401 of the Help Amer- 16 ica Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21111) is amended by 17 inserting ‘‘or the requirements relating to mailed ballots 18 under subtitle B of title III’’ before the period at the end. 19 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 321(a) of 20 such Act (52 U.S.C. 21101), as redesignated by sub- 21 section (a), is amended by striking ‘‘section 312’’ and in- 22 serting ‘‘section 322’’. 23 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of contents 24 of such Act is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1391.IS S1391 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1391 IS (1) by striking ‘‘Subtitle B—Voluntary’’ and in- 1 serting ‘‘Subtitle C—Voluntary’’; 2 (2) by redesignating the items relating to sec- 3 tions 311 and 312 as relating to sections 321 and 4 322, respectively; and 5 (3) by inserting after the item relating to sec- 6 tion 305 the following: 7 ‘‘Subtitle B—Requirements Relating to Mailed Ballots ‘‘Sec. 311. Use of intelligent mail barcodes.’’. SEC. 4. ELECTION MAIL AND DELIVERY IMPROVEMENTS. 8 (a) POSTMARK REQUIRED FOR BALLOTS.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 34 of title 39, 10 United States Code, as amended by section 2, is 11 amended by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘§ 3408. Postmark required for ballots 13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any absentee bal- 14 lot carried by the Postal Service, the Postal Service shall 15 indicate on the ballot envelope, using a postmark or other- 16 wise— 17 ‘‘(1) the fact that the ballot was carried by the 18 Postal Service; and 19 ‘‘(2) the date on which the ballot was mailed. 20 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 21 ‘‘(1) the term ‘absentee ballot’ means any ballot 22 transmitted by a voter by mail in an election for 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1391.IS S1391 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1391 IS Federal office, but does not include any ballot cov- 1 ered by section 3406; and 2 ‘‘(2) the term ‘election for Federal office’ means 3 a general, special, primary, or runoff election for the 4 office of President or Vice President, or of Senator 5 or Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Com- 6 missioner to, the Congress.’’. 7 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND- 8 MENT.—The table of sections for chapter 34 of title 9 39, United States Code, as amended by section 2, is 10 amended by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘3408. Postmark required for ballots.’’. (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 12 by this subsection shall apply to absentee ballots re- 13 lating to an election for Federal office occurring on 14 or after the date that is 60 days after the date of 15 enactment of this Act. 16 (b) GREATER VISIBILITY FOR BALLOTS.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title III of the 18 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 19 et seq.), as added by section 3, is amended by add- 20 ing at the end the following new section: 21 ‘‘SEC. 312. BALLOT VISIBILITY. 22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State or local election offi- 23 cial shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1391.IS S1391 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1391 IS ‘‘(1) affix Tag 191, Domestic and International 1 Mail-In Ballots (or any successor tag designated by 2 the United States Postal Service), to any tray or 3 sack of official ballots relating to an election for 4 Federal office that is destined for a domestic or 5 international address; 6 ‘‘(2) use the Official Election Mail logo to des- 7 ignate official ballots relating to an election for Fed- 8 eral office that is destined for a domestic or inter- 9 national address; and 10 ‘‘(3) if an intelligent mail barcode (as described 11 in section 311) is utilized for any official ballot re- 12 lating to an election for Federal office that is des- 13 tined for a domestic or international address, ensure 14 the specific ballot service type identifier for such 15 mail is visible. 16 ‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirements of this 17 section shall apply to elections for Federal office occurring 18 on and after the date that is 60 days after the date of 19 enactment of this section.’’. 20 (2) ISSUANCE OF VOLUNTARY GUIDANCE BY 21 ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION.—Section 22 321(b) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21101(b)), as redes- 23 ignated by section 3, is amended— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1391.IS S1391 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 1391 IS (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para- 1 graph (2); 2 (B) by striking the period at the end of 3 paragraph (3) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 4 (C) by adding at the end the following new 5 paragraph: 6 ‘‘(4) in the case of the recommendations with 7 respect to section 312, the date described in section 8 312(b).’’. 9 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con- 10 tents of such Act, as amended by section 3, is 11 amended by inserting after the item relating to sec- 12 tion 311 the following new item: 13 ‘‘Sec. 312. Ballot visibility.’’. SEC. 5. CARRIAGE OF ELECTION MAIL. 14 (a) TREATMENT OF ELECTION MAIL.— 15 (1) TREATMENT AS FIRST-CLASS MAIL; FREE 16 POSTAGE.—Chapter 34 of title 39, United States 17 Code, as amended by section 4(a), is amended by 18 adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘§ 3409. Domestic election mail; restriction of oper- 20 ational changes prior to elections 21 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 22 ‘‘(1) ELECTION FOR FEDERAL OFFICE.—The 23 term ‘election for Federal office’ means a general, 24 special, primary, or runoff election for the office of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1391.IS S1391 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 1391 IS President or Vice President, or of Senator or Rep- 1 resentative in, or Delegate or Resident Commis- 2 sioner to, the Congress. 3 ‘‘(2) ELECTION MAIL.—The term ‘election mail’ 4 means— 5 ‘‘(A) a blank or completed voter registra- 6 tion application form, voter registration card, or 7 similar materials, relating to an election for 8 Federal office; 9 ‘‘(B) a blank or completed absentee and 10 other mail-in ballot application form, and a 11 blank or completed absentee or other mail-in 12 ballot, relating to an election for Federal office, 13 and 14 ‘‘(C) other materials relating to an election 15 for Federal office that are mailed by a State or 16 local election official to an individual who is 17 registered to vote. 18 ‘‘(b) CARRIAGE OF ELECTION MAIL.—Election mail 19 (other than balloting materials covered under section 3406 20 (relating to the Uniformed and Overseas Absentee Voting 21 Act)), individually or in bulk, shall be carried in accord- 22 ance with the service standards established for first-class 23 mail under section 3691. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1391.IS S1391 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 1391 IS ‘‘(c) NO POSTAGE REQUIRED FOR COMPLETED BAL- 1 LOTS.—Completed absentee or other mail-in ballots (other 2 than balloting materials covered under section 3406 (relat- 3 ing to the Uniformed and Overseas Absentee Voting Act)) 4 shall be carried free of postage. 5 ‘‘(d) RESTRICTION OF OPERATIONAL CHANGES.— 6 During the 120-day period that ends on the date of an 7 election for Federal office, the Postal Service may not 8 carry out any operational change that would restrict the 9 prompt and reliable delivery of election mail. This sub- 10 section applies to operational changes which include— 11 ‘‘(1) removing or eliminating any mail collection 12 box without immediately replacing it; and 13 ‘‘(2) removing, decommissioning, or any other 14 form of stopping the operation of mail sorting ma- 15 chines, other than for routine maintenance. 16 ‘‘(e) ELECTION MAIL COORDINATOR.—The Postal 17 Service shall appoint an Election Mail Coordinator at each 18 area office and district office to facilitate relevant informa- 19 tion sharing with State, territorial, local, and Tribal elec- 20 tion officials in regards to the mailing of election mail.’’. 21 (2) REIMBURSEMENT OF POSTAL SERVICE FOR 22 REVENUE FORGONE.—Section 2401(c) of title 39, 23 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘sec- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1391.IS S1391 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 1391 IS tions 3217 and 3403 through 3406’’ and inserting 1 ‘‘sections 3217, 3403 through 3406, and 3409’’. 2 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 3 The table of sections for chapter 34 of title 39, United 4 States Code, as amended by section 4(a), is amended by 5 adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘3409. Domestic election mail; restriction of operational changes prior to elec- tions.’’. (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 7 this section shall take effect upon the expiration of the 8 180-day period that begins on the date of enactment of 9 this section. 10 SEC. 6. UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE CONSULTATION. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Postmaster General shall 12 consult with Indian Tribes, on an annual basis, regarding 13 issues relating to the United States Postal Service that 14 present barriers to voting for eligible voters living on In- 15 dian lands. 16 (b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 17 (1) INDIAN LANDS.—The term ‘‘Indian lands’’ 18 means— 19 (A) any Indian country, as such term is 20 defined in section 1151 of title 18, United 21 States Code, of an Indian Tribe; 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1391.IS S1391 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •S 1391 IS (B) any land in Alaska that is owned, pur- 1 suant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement 2 Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), by— 3 (i) an Indian Tribe that is a Native 4 village (as such term is defined in section 5 3 of such Act (43 U.S.C. 1602)); or 6 (ii) a Village Corporation (as such 7 term is defined in such section 3) that is 8 associated with an Indian Tribe described 9 in clause (i); 10 (C) any land on which the seat of govern- 11 ment of an Indian Tribe is located; and 12 (D) any land that is [Text truncated for display. 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