I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8344 

To require the United States Postal Service to treat election mail as firstclass 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 Committee 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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Election Mail Act of 

5 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ELECTION MAIL. 

7 (a) TREATMENT OF ELECTION MAIL.— 


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1 (1) TREATMENT AS FIRST-CLASS MAIL; FREE

2 POSTAGE.—Chapter 34 of title 39, United States 

3 Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘§ 3407. Domestic election mail 

6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘election 

7 mail’— 

8 ‘‘(1) means— 

9 ‘‘(A) a blank or completed voter registra10 tion application form, voter registration card, or 

11 similar materials, relating to an election for 

12 Federal office; 

13 ‘‘(B) a blank or completed absentee and 

14 other mail-in ballot application form, and a 

15 blank or completed absentee or other mail-in 

16 ballot, relating to an election for Federal office; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(C) other materials relating to an election 

19 for Federal office that are mailed by a State or 

20 local election official to an individual who is 

21 registered to vote; and 

22 ‘‘(2) does not include balloting materials cov23 ered under section 3406 (relating to the Uniformed 

24 and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act). 


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1 ‘‘(b) CARRIAGE OF ELECTION MAIL.—Election mail 

2 (individually or in bulk) shall be carried— 

3 ‘‘(1) in accordance with the service standards 

4 established for first-class mail under section 3691; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(2) free of postage. 

7 ‘‘(c) POSTMARK REQUIRED FOR BALLOTS.—In the 

8 case of any election mail carried by the Postal Service that 

9 consists of a ballot, the Postal Service shall indicate on 

10 the ballot envelope, using a postmark or otherwise— 

11 ‘‘(1) the fact that the ballot was carried by the 

12 Postal Service; and 

13 ‘‘(2) the date on which the ballot was mailed.’’. 

14 (2) REIMBURSEMENT OF POSTAL SERVICE FOR

15 REVENUE FORGONE.—Section 2401(c) of title 39, 

16 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘3406’’ 

17 and inserting ‘‘3407’’. 

18 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

19 The table of sections for chapter 34 of title 39, United 

20 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol21 lowing: 

‘‘3407. Domestic election mail.’’. 

22 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 

24 this section shall apply to election mail relating to 


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1 an election for Federal office occurring on or after 

2 January 1, 2022. 

3 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO APPLI4 CATION TO 2020 GENERAL ELECTION.—It is the 

5 sense of Congress that the United States Postal 

6 Service should make all reasonable efforts to comply 

7 with subsections (b)(1) and (c) of section 3407 of 

8 title 39, United States Code, as added by subsection 

9 (a)(1) of this section, with respect to election mail 

10 relating to the general election for Federal office in 

11 2020. 

12 SEC. 3. INTELLIGENT MAIL BARCODES FOR BALLOTS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help America 

14 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081) is amended by adding 

15 at the end the following new subtitle: 

16 ‘‘Subtitle C—Requirements 

17 Relating to Mailed Ballots 

18 ‘‘SEC. 321. USE OF INTELLIGENT MAIL BARCODES. 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State and jurisdiction shall 

20 provide with each ballot for an election for Federal office 

21 that is sent by mail a return envelope that contains an 

22 intelligent mail barcode, as prescribed by the United 

23 States Postal Service. 

24 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to 

25 any ballot for which a State or jurisdiction uses an alterVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8344.IH H8344

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1 native system that enables voters to track the ballot 

2 through the mail. 

3 ‘‘(c) STATE.—For purposes of this section, the term 

4 ‘State’ includes the District of Columbia, the Common5 wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the 

6 United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of 

7 the Northern Mariana Islands.’’. 

8 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 401 of the Help Amer9 ica Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21111) is amended by 

10 inserting ‘‘or the requirements for mailed ballots under 

11 subtitle C of title III’’ before the period at the end. 

12 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

13 of such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating 

14 to section 312 the following: 

‘‘Subtitle C—Requirements Relating to Mailed Ballots 

‘‘Sec. 321. Use of intelligent mail barcodes.’’. 

15 SEC. 4. DEADLINES FOR BALLOTS SUBMITTED BY MAIL. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title III of the Help 

17 America Vote Act of 2002, as added by section 3, is 

18 amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 322. DEADLINE FOR BALLOTS SUBMITTED BY MAIL. 

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State and jurisdiction shall 

21 count a ballot submitted by an individual by mail with re22 spect to an election for Federal office in the State— 

23 ‘‘(1) if it is postmarked, signed, or otherwise in24 dicated by the United States Postal Service to have 


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1 been mailed on or before the close of polls on the 

2 date of the election; and 

3 ‘‘(2) received by the appropriate State election 

4 official on or before the date that is 10 days after 

5 the date of such election. 

6 ‘‘(b) NO INFERENCE.—Nothing in this section shall 

7 be construed as prohibiting a State or jurisdiction from 

8 having a law that allows for counting ballots in an election 

9 for Federal office that are received through the mail after 

10 the date that is 10 days after the date of the election.’’. 

11 (b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—Title IV of the 

12 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21111 et seq.) 

13 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 403. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION FOR VIOLATIONS OF 

15 MAIL-IN BALLOT DEADLINE. 

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a violation of sec17 tion 322, section 402 shall not apply and any person who 

18 is aggrieved by such violation may provide written notice 

19 of the violation to the chief election official of the State 

20 involved. 

21 ‘‘(b) RELIEF.—If the violation is not corrected within 

22 5 days after receipt of the notice, the aggrieved person 

23 may, in a civil action, obtain declaratory or injunctive re24 lief with respect to the violation. 


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1 ‘‘(c) NOTICE NOT REQUIRED.—The aggrieved person 

2 need not provide notice to the chief election official of the 

3 State involved under subsection (a) before bringing a civil 

4 action under subsection (b).’’. 

5 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of contents 

6 of such Act, as amended by section 3, is amended— 

7 (1) by inserting after the item relating to sec8 tion 321 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 322. Deadline for ballots submitted by mail.’’; 

9 and 

10 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec11 tion 402 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 403. Private right of action for violations of mail-in ballot deadline.’’. 

12 SEC. 5. GREATER VISIBILITY FOR BALLOTS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title III of the Help 

14 America Vote Act of 2002, as added by section 3 and 

15 amended by section 4, is amended by adding at the end 

16 the following new section: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 323. BALLOT VISIBILITY. 

18 ‘‘Each State or local election official shall— 

19 ‘‘(1) affix Tag 191, Domestic and International 

20 Mail-In Ballots (or any successor tag designated by 

21 the United States Postal Service), to any tray or 

22 sack of ballot mail relating to an election for Federal 

23 office that is destined for a domestic or international 

24 address; 


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1 ‘‘(2) use the Official Election Mail logo to des2 ignate mail pieces relating to an election for Federal 

3 office that is destined for a domestic or international 

4 address; and 

5 ‘‘(3) if an intelligent mail barcode (as described 

6 in section 321) is utilized for any mail relating to an 

7 election for Federal office that is destined for a do8 mestic or international address, ensure the specific 

9 ballot service type identifier for such mail is visi10 ble.’’. 

11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

12 for such Act, as amended by sections 3 and 4, is amended 

13 by inserting after the item relating to section 322 the fol14 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 323. Ballot visibility.’’. 

15 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title III of the Help 

17 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20901 et seq.), as 

18 added by section 3 and amended by sections 4 and 5, is 

19 amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 324. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

21 ‘‘The requirements of this subtitle shall apply to elec22 tions for Federal office occurring on and after January 

23 1, 2022.’’. 

24 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

25 for such Act, as amended by sections 3, 4, and 5, is 


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1 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

2 323 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 324. Effective date.’’. 

3 (c) SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO APPLICATION

4 TO 2020 GENERAL ELECTION.—It is the sense of Con5 gress that States and jurisdictions should make all reason6 able efforts to comply with the provisions of subtitle C of 

7 title III of the Help America Vote Act of 2002, as added 

8 by this Act, for the general election for Federal office in 

9 2020. 

Æ 


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