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 America Vote Act of 2002 to improve procedures and requirements related to election mail. 

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’’. 

5 SEC. 2. SAME-DAY PROCESSING OF ABSENTEE BALLOTS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 34 of title 39, United 

7 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘§ 3407. Same-day processing of ballots 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Postal Service shall ensure, 

3 to the maximum extent practicable, that any ballot carried 

4 by the Postal Service is processed by and cleared from 

5 any postal facility or post office on the same day that the 

6 ballot is received by that postal facility or post office. 

7 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 

8 ‘‘(1) the term ‘ballot’ means any ballot trans9 mitted by a voter by mail in an election for Federal 

10 office, but does not include any ballot covered by 

11 section 3406; and 

12 ‘‘(2) the term ‘election for Federal office’ means 

13 a general, special, primary, or runoff election for the 

14 office of President or Vice President, or of Senator 

15 or Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Com16 missioner to, the Congress.’’. 

17 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

18 (1) CHAPTER HEADING.—The heading for 

19 chapter 34 of title 39, United States Code, is 

20 amended by striking ‘‘ARMED FORCES AND 

21 FREE POSTAGE’’ and inserting ‘‘ARMED 

22 FORCES; FREE POSTAGE; ELECTION 

23 MAIL’’. 

24 (2) TABLE OF CHAPTERS.—The table of chap25 ters for part IV of title 39, United States Code, is 


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1 amended by striking the item relating to chapter 34 

2 and inserting the following: 

‘‘34. Armed Forces; Free Postage; Election Mail .................. 3401’’. 

3 (3) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections 

4 for chapter 34 of title 39, United States Code, is 

5 amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘3407. Same-day processing of ballots.’’. 

6 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

7 this subsection shall apply to absentee ballots relating to 

8 an election for Federal office occurring on or after the 

9 date that is 60 days after the date of enactment of this 

10 Act. 

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— 

14 (1) by redesignating section 311 and section 

15 312 as sections 321 and 322, respectively; 

16 (2) by redesignating subtitle B as subtitle C; 

17 and 

18 (3) by inserting after subtitle A the following 

19 new subtitle: 

20 ‘‘Subtitle B—Requirements 

21 Relating to Mailed Ballots 

22 ‘‘SEC. 311. USE OF INTELLIGENT MAIL BARCODES. 

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

24 provide with each ballot for an election for Federal office 


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

2 intelligent mail barcode, as prescribed by the United 

3 States Postal Service. 

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

5 any ballot for which a State or jurisdiction uses an alter6 native system that enables voters to track the ballot 

7 through the mail. 

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

9 ‘State’ includes the District of Columbia, the Common10 wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the 

11 United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of 

12 the Northern Mariana Islands. 

13 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirements of this 

14 section shall apply to elections for Federal office occurring 

15 on or after January 1, 2024.’’. 

16 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 401 of the Help Amer17 ica Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21111) is amended by 

18 inserting ‘‘or the requirements relating to mailed ballots 

19 under subtitle B of title III’’ before the period at the end. 

20 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 321(a) of 

21 such Act (52 U.S.C. 21101), as redesignated by sub22 section (a), is amended by striking ‘‘section 312’’ and in23 serting ‘‘section 322’’. 

24 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of contents 

25 of such Act is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘Subtitle B—Voluntary’’ and in2 serting ‘‘Subtitle C—Voluntary’’; 

3 (2) by redesignating the items relating to sec4 tions 311 and 312 as relating to sections 321 and 

5 322, respectively; and 

6 (3) by inserting after the item relating to sec7 tion 305 the following: 

‘‘Subtitle B—Requirements Relating to Mailed Ballots 

‘‘Sec. 311. Use of intelligent mail barcodes.’’. 

8 SEC. 4. ELECTION MAIL AND DELIVERY IMPROVEMENTS. 

9 (a) POSTMARK REQUIRED FOR BALLOTS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 34 of title 39, 

11 United States Code, as amended by section 2, is 

12 amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘§ 3408. Postmark required for ballots 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any absentee bal15 lot carried by the Postal Service, the Postal Service shall 

16 indicate on the ballot envelope, using a postmark or other17 wise— 

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

19 Postal Service; and 

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

21 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 

22 ‘‘(1) the term ‘absentee ballot’ means any ballot 

23 transmitted by a voter by mail in an election for 


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1 Federal office, but does not include any ballot cov2 ered by section 3406; and 

3 ‘‘(2) the term ‘election for Federal office’ means 

4 a general, special, primary, or runoff election for the 

5 office of President or Vice President, or of Senator 

6 or Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Com7 missioner to, the Congress.’’. 

8 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND9 MENT.—The table of sections for chapter 34 of title 

10 39, United States Code, as amended by section 2, is 

11 amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘3408. Postmark required for ballots.’’. 

12 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

13 by this subsection shall apply to absentee ballots re14 lating to an election for Federal office occurring on 

15 or after the date that is 60 days after the date of 

16 enactment of this Act. 

17 (b) GREATER VISIBILITY FOR BALLOTS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title III of the 

19 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 

20 et seq.), as added by section 3, is amended by add21 ing at the end the following new section: 

22 ‘‘SEC. 312. BALLOT VISIBILITY. 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State or local election offi24 cial shall— 


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

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

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

4 sack of official ballots relating to an election for 

5 Federal office that is destined for a domestic or 

6 international address; 

7 ‘‘(2) use the Official Election Mail logo to des8 ignate official ballots relating to an election for Fed9 eral office that is destined for a domestic or inter10 national address; and 

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

12 in section 311) is utilized for any official ballot re13 lating to an election for Federal office that is des14 tined for a domestic or international address, ensure 

15 the specific ballot service type identifier for such 

16 mail is visible. 

17 ‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirements of this 

18 section shall apply to elections for Federal office occurring 

19 on and after the date that is 60 days after the date of 

20 enactment of this section.’’. 

21 (2) ISSUANCE OF VOLUNTARY GUIDANCE BY

22 ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION.—Section 

23 321(b) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21101(b)), as redes24 ignated by section 3, is amended— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para2 graph (2); 

3 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

4 paragraph (3) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

6 paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(4) in the case of the recommendations with 

8 respect to section 312, the date described in section 

9 312(b).’’. 

10 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con11 tents of such Act, as amended by section 3, is 

12 amended by inserting after the item relating to sec13 tion 311 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 312. Ballot visibility.’’. 

14 SEC. 5. CARRIAGE OF ELECTION MAIL. 

15 (a) TREATMENT OF ELECTION MAIL.— 

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

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

18 Code, as amended by section 4(a), is amended by 

19 adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘§ 3409. Domestic election mail; restriction of oper21 ational changes prior to elections 

22 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 ‘‘(1) ELECTION FOR FEDERAL OFFICE.—The 

24 term ‘election for Federal office’ means a general, 

25 special, primary, or runoff election for the office of 


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1 President or Vice President, or of Senator or Rep2 resentative in, or Delegate or Resident Commis3 sioner to, the Congress. 

4 ‘‘(2) ELECTION MAIL.—The term ‘election mail’ 

5 means— 

6 ‘‘(A) a blank or completed voter registra7 tion application form, voter registration card, or 

8 similar materials, relating to an election for 

9 Federal office; 

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

11 other mail-in ballot application form, and a 

12 blank or completed absentee or other mail-in 

13 ballot, relating to an election for Federal office, 

14 and 

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

16 for Federal office that are mailed by a State or 

17 local election official to an individual who is 

18 registered to vote. 

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

20 (other than balloting materials covered under section 3406 

21 (relating to the Uniformed and Overseas Absentee Voting 

22 Act)), individually or in bulk, shall be carried in accord23 ance with the service standards established for first-class 

24 mail under section 3691. 


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1 ‘‘(c) NO POSTAGE REQUIRED FOR COMPLETED BAL2 LOTS.—Completed absentee or other mail-in ballots (other 

3 than balloting materials covered under section 3406 (relat4 ing to the Uniformed and Overseas Absentee Voting Act)) 

5 shall be carried free of postage. 

6 ‘‘(d) RESTRICTION OF OPERATIONAL CHANGES.— 

7 During the 120-day period that ends on the date of an 

8 election for Federal office, the Postal Service may not 

9 carry out any operational change that would restrict the 

10 prompt and reliable delivery of election mail. This sub11 section applies to operational changes which include— 

12 ‘‘(1) removing or eliminating any mail collection 

13 box without immediately replacing it; and 

14 ‘‘(2) removing, decommissioning, or any other 

15 form of stopping the operation of mail sorting ma16 chines, other than for routine maintenance. 

17 ‘‘(e) ELECTION MAIL COORDINATOR.—The Postal 

18 Service shall appoint an Election Mail Coordinator at each 

19 area office and district office to facilitate relevant informa20 tion sharing with State, territorial, local, and Tribal elec21 tion officials in regards to the mailing of election mail.’’. 

22 (2) REIMBURSEMENT OF POSTAL SERVICE FOR

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

24 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘secVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1391.IS S1391

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1 tions 3217 and 3403 through 3406’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘sections 3217, 3403 through 3406, and 3409’’. 

3 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

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

5 States Code, as amended by section 4(a), is amended by 

6 adding at the end the following: 

‘‘3409. Domestic election mail; restriction of operational changes prior to elections.’’. 

7 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

8 this section shall take effect upon the expiration of the 

9 180-day period that begins on the date of enactment of 

10 this section. 

11 SEC. 6. UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE CONSULTATION. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Postmaster General shall 

13 consult with Indian Tribes, on an annual basis, regarding 

14 issues relating to the United States Postal Service that 

15 present barriers to voting for eligible voters living on In16 dian lands. 

17 (b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

18 (1) INDIAN LANDS.—The term ‘‘Indian lands’’ 

19 means— 

20 (A) any Indian country, as such term is 

21 defined in section 1151 of title 18, United 

22 States Code, of an Indian Tribe; 


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1 (B) any land in Alaska that is owned, pur2 suant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement 

3 Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), by— 

4 (i) an Indian Tribe that is a Native 

5 village (as such term is defined in section 

6 3 of such Act (43 U.S.C. 1602)); or 

7 (ii) a Village Corporation (as such 

8 term is defined in such section 3) that is 

9 associated with an Indian Tribe described 

10 in clause (i); 

11 (C) any land on which the seat of govern12 ment of an Indian Tribe is located; and 

13 (D) any land that is part or all of a Tribal 

14 designated statistical area associated with an 

15 Indian Tribe, or is part or all of an Alaska Na16 tive village statistical area associated with an 

17 Indian Tribe, as defined by the Bureau of the 

18 Census for the purposes of the most recent de19 cennial census. 

20 (2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

21 means the recognized governing body of any Indian 

22 or Alaska Native Tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, 

23 community, component band, or component reserva24 tion, individually identified (including parentheti25 cally) in the list published most recently pursuant to 


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1 section 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian 

2 Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131). 

3 SEC. 7. UNIFORM DEADLINE FOR ACCEPTANCE OF MAILED 

4 BALLOTS. 

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

6 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.), as 

7 added by section 3 and amended by section 4, is amended 

8 by adding at the end the following new section: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 313. UNIFORM DEADLINE FOR ACCEPTANCE OF 

10 MAILED BALLOTS. 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State or local election official 

12 may not refuse to accept or process a ballot submitted by 

13 an individual by mail with respect to an election for Fed14 eral office in the State on the grounds that the individual 

15 did not meet a deadline for returning the ballot to the 

16 appropriate State or local election official if— 

17 ‘‘(1) the ballot is postmarked or otherwise indi18 cated by the United States Postal Service to have 

19 been mailed on or before the date of the election; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(2) the ballot is received by the appropriate 

22 election official prior to the expiration of the 7-day 

23 period which begins on the date of the election. 

24 ‘‘(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec25 tion shall be construed to prohibit a State from having 


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1 a law that allows for counting of ballots in an election for 

2 Federal office that are received through the mail after the 

3 date that is 7 days after the date of the election. 

4 ‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

5 with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 

6 Federal office held in November 2024 and each succeeding 

7 election for Federal office.’’. 

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

9 of such Act, as amended by sections 3 and 4, is amended 

10 by inserting after the item relating to section 312 the fol11 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 313. Uniform deadline for acceptance of mailed ballots.’’. 

Æ 


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