159 
‘‘(1) affix Tag 191, Domestic and International 
Mail-In Ballots (or any successor tag designated by 
the United States Postal Service), to any tray or 
sack of official ballots relating to an election for 
Federal office that is destined for a domestic or 
international address; 
‘‘(2) use the Official Election Mail logo to des-
ignate official ballots relating to an election for Fed-
eral office that is destined for a domestic or inter-
national address; and 
‘‘(3) if an intelligent mail barcode is utilized for 
any official ballot relating to an election for Federal 
office that is destined for a domestic or international 
address, ensure the specific ballot service type identi-
fier for such mail is visible. 
‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirements of this 
section shall apply to elections for Federal office occurring 
on and after January 1, 2024.’’. 
(2) VOLUNTARY GUIDANCE.—Section 321(b)(4) 
of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21101(b)), as added and re-
designated by section 1101(b) and as amended by 
sections 1102, 1103 and 1104, is amended by strik-
ing ‘‘and 309’’ and inserting ‘‘309, and 313’’. 
(3) CLERICAL
AMENDMENTS.—The table of 
contents of such Act, as amended by section 
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160 
1031(c), section 1044(b), section 1101(c), section 
1102(c), section 1103(a), section 1104(c), section 
1201(c), section 1301(a), and section 1302(a), is 
amended— 
(A) by redesignating the items relating to 
sections 313 and 314 as relating to sections 
314 and 315; and 
(B) by inserting after the item relating to 
section 312 the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 313. Ballot visibility.’’. 
SEC. 1304. CARRIAGE OF ELECTION MAIL. 
(a) TREATMENT OF ELECTION MAIL.— 
(1) TREATMENT AS FIRST-CLASS MAIL; FREE 
POSTAGE.—Chapter 34 of title 39, United States 
Code, as amended by section 1301(b) and section 
1303(a), is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘§ 3409. Domestic election mail; restriction of oper-
ational changes prior to elections 
‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘election 
mail’ means— 
‘‘(1) a blank or completed voter registration ap-
plication form, voter registration card, or similar 
materials, relating to an election for Federal office; 
‘‘(2) a blank or completed absentee and other 
mail-in ballot application form, and a blank or com-
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161 
pleted absentee or other mail-in ballot, relating to an 
election for Federal office, and 
‘‘(3) other materials relating to an election for 
Federal office that are mailed by a State or local 
election official to an individual who is registered to 
vote. 
‘‘(b) CARRIAGE OF ELECTION MAIL.—Election mail 
(other than balloting materials covered under section 3406 
(relating to the Uniformed and Overseas Absentee Voting 
Act)), individually or in bulk, shall be carried in accord-
ance with the service standards established for first-class 
mail under section 3691. 
‘‘(c) NO POSTAGE REQUIRED FOR COMPLETED BAL-
LOTS.—Completed absentee or other mail-in ballots (other 
than balloting materials covered under section 3406 (relat-
ing to the Uniformed and Overseas Absentee Voting Act)) 
shall be carried free of postage. 
‘‘(d) RESTRICTION OF OPERATIONAL CHANGES.— 
During the 120-day period that ends on the date of an 
election for Federal office, the Postal Service may not 
carry out any new operational change that would restrict 
the prompt and reliable delivery of election mail. This sub-
section applies to operational changes which include— 
‘‘(1) removing or eliminating any mail collection 
box without immediately replacing it; and 
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162 
‘‘(2) removing, decommissioning, or any other 
form of stopping the operation of mail sorting ma-
chines, other than for routine maintenance. 
‘‘(e) ELECTION MAIL COORDINATOR.—The Postal 
Service shall appoint an Election Mail Coordinator at each 
area office and district office to facilitate relevant informa-
tion sharing with State, territorial, local, and Tribal elec-
tion officials in regards to the mailing of election mail.’’. 
(2) REIMBURSEMENT OF POSTAL SERVICE FOR 
REVENUE FORGONE.—Section 2401(c) of title 39, 
United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘sec-
tions 3217 and 3403 through 3406’’ and inserting 
‘‘sections 3217, 3403 through 3406, and 3409’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 
The table of sections for chapter 34 of title 39, United 
States Code, as amended by section 1301(b) and section 
1303(a), is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘3409. Domestic election mail; restriction of operational changes prior to elec-
tions.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall take effect upon the expiration of the 
180-day period that begins on the date of enactment of 
this section. 
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163 
SEC. 1305. REQUIRING STATES TO PROVIDE SECURED 
DROP BOXES FOR VOTED BALLOTS IN ELEC-
TIONS FOR FEDERAL OFFICE. 
(a) REQUIREMENT.—Subtitle A of title III of the 
Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.), 
as amended by section 1031(a), section 1044(a), section 
1101(a), section 1102(a), section 1103(a), section 
1104(a), section 1201(a), section 1301(a), section 
1302(a), and section 1303(b) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating sections 314 and 315 as 
sections 315 and 316, respectively; and 
(2) by inserting after section 313 the following 
new section: 
‘‘SEC. 314. USE OF SECURED DROP BOXES FOR VOTED BAL-
LOTS. 
‘‘(a) REQUIRING USE OF DROP BOXES.—Each juris-
diction shall provide in-person, secured, and clearly labeled 
drop boxes at which individuals may, at any time during 
the period described in subsection (b), drop off voted bal-
lots in an election for Federal office. 
‘‘(b) MINIMUM PERIOD FOR AVAILABILITY OF DROP 
BOXES.—The period described in this subsection is, with 
respect to an election, the period that begins on the first 
day on which the jurisdiction sends mail-in ballots or ab-
sentee ballots (other than ballots for absent uniformed 
overseas voters (as defined in section 107(1) of the Uni-
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164 
formed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (52 
U.S.C. 20310(1))) or overseas voters (as defined in section 
107(5) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20310(5)))) to voters for 
such election and which ends at the time the polls close 
for the election in the jurisdiction involved. 
‘‘(c) ACCESSIBILITY.— 
‘‘(1) HOURS OF ACCESS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B), each drop box provided 
under this section shall be accessible to voters 
for a reasonable number of hours each day. 
‘‘(B) 24-HOUR DROP BOXES.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Of the number of 
drop boxes provided in any jurisdiction, 
not less than the required number shall be 
accessible for 24 hours per day during the 
period described in subsection (b). 
‘‘(ii) REQUIRED
NUMBER.—The re-
quired number is the greater of— 
‘‘(I) 25 percent of the drop boxes 
required under subsection (d); or 
‘‘(II) 1 drop box. 
‘‘(2) POPULATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Drop boxes provided 
under this section shall be accessible for use— 
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165 
‘‘(i) by individuals with disabilities, as 
determined in consultation with the protec-
tion and advocacy systems (as defined in 
section 102 of the Developmental Disabil-
ities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 
2000 (42 U.S.C. 15002)) of the State; 
‘‘(ii) by individuals with limited pro-
ficiency in the English language; and 
‘‘(iii) by homeless individuals (as de-
fined in section 103 of the McKinney– 
Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
11302)) within the State. 
‘‘(B) DETERMINATION OF ACCESSIBILITY 
FOR
INDIVIDUALS
WITH
DISABILITIES.—For 
purposes of this paragraph, drop boxes shall be 
considered to be accessible for use by individ-
uals with disabilities if the drop boxes meet 
such criteria as the Attorney General may es-
tablish for such purposes. 
‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—If a drop 
box provided under this section is on the 
grounds of or inside a building or facility which 
serves as a polling place for an election during 
the period described in subsection (b), nothing 
in this subsection may be construed to waive 
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166 
any requirements regarding the accessibility of 
such polling place for the use of individuals 
with disabilities, individuals with limited pro-
ficiency in the English language, or homeless 
individuals. 
‘‘(d) NUMBER OF DROP BOXES.—Each jurisdiction 
shall have— 
‘‘(1) in the case of any election for Federal of-
fice prior to the regularly scheduled general election 
for Federal office held in November 2026, not less 
than 1 drop box for every 45,000 registered voters 
located in the jurisdiction; and 
‘‘(2) in the case of the regularly scheduled gen-
eral election for Federal office held in November 
2026 and each election for Federal office occurring 
thereafter, not less than the greater of— 
‘‘(A) 1 drop box for every 45,000 reg-
istered voters located in the jurisdiction; or 
‘‘(B) 1 drop box for every 15,000 votes 
that were cast by mail in the jurisdiction in the 
most recent general election that includes an 
election for the office of President. 
In no case shall a jurisdiction have fewer than 1 
drop box for any election for Federal office. 
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167 
‘‘(e) LOCATION OF DROP BOXES.—The State shall 
determine the location of drop boxes provided under this 
section in a jurisdiction on the basis of criteria which en-
sure that the drop boxes are— 
‘‘(1) available to all voters on a non-discrimina-
tory basis; 
‘‘(2) accessible to voters with disabilities (in ac-
cordance with subsection (c)); 
‘‘(3) accessible by public transportation to the 
greatest extent possible; 
‘‘(4) available during all hours of the day; 
‘‘(5) sufficiently available in all communities in 
the jurisdiction, including rural communities and on 
Tribal lands within the jurisdiction (subject to sub-
section (f)); and 
‘‘(6) geographically distributed to provide a rea-
sonable opportunity for voters to submit their voted 
ballot in a timely manner. 
‘‘(f) TIMING
OF SCANNING
AND PROCESSING
OF 
BALLOTS.—For purposes of section 311(g) (relating to 
the timing of the processing and scanning of ballots for 
tabulation), a vote cast using a drop box provided under 
this section shall be treated in the same manner as a ballot 
cast by mail. 
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168 
‘‘(g) POSTING OF INFORMATION.—On or adjacent to 
each drop box provided under this section, the State shall 
post information on the requirements that voted absentee 
ballots must meet in order to be counted and tabulated 
in the election. 
‘‘(h) REMOTE SURVEILLANCE.—Nothing in this sec-
tion shall prohibit a State from providing for the security 
of drop boxes through remote or electronic surveillance. 
‘‘(i) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 
with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 
Federal office held in November 2024 and each succeeding 
election for Federal office.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of contents 
of such Act, as amended by section 1031(c), section 
1044(b), section 1101(c), section 1102(c), section 
1103(a), section 1104(c), section 1201(c), section 
1301(c), section 1302(a), and section 1303(b), is amend-
ed— 
(1) by redesignating the items relating to sec-
tions 314 and 315 as relating to sections 315 and 
316, respectively; and 
(2) by inserting after the item relating to sec-
tion 313 the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 314. Use of secured drop boxes for voted ballots.’’. 
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169 
Subtitle 
E—Absent 
Uniformed 
Services Voters and Overseas 
Voters 
SEC. 1401. PRE-ELECTION REPORTS ON AVAILABILITY AND 
TRANSMISSION OF ABSENTEE BALLOTS. 
Section 102(c) of the Uniformed and Overseas Citi-
zens Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20302(c)) is amend-
ed to read as follows: 
‘‘(c) REPORTS
ON AVAILABILITY, TRANSMISSION, 
AND RECEIPT OF ABSENTEE BALLOTS.— 
‘‘(1) PRE-ELECTION
REPORT
ON
ABSENTEE 
BALLOT AVAILABILITY.—Not later than 55 days be-
fore any regularly scheduled general election for 
Federal office, each State shall submit a report to 
the Attorney General certifying that absentee ballots 
for the election are or will be available for trans-
mission to absent uniformed services voters and 
overseas voters by not later than 46 days before the 
election. The report shall be in a form prescribed by 
the Attorney General and shall require the State to 
certify specific information about ballot availability 
from each unit of local government which will ad-
minister the election. 
‘‘(2) PRE-ELECTION
REPORT
ON
ABSENTEE 
BALLOTS TRANSMITTED.— 
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170 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 43 
days before any election for Federal office held 
in a State, the chief State election official of 
such State shall submit a report containing the 
information in subparagraph (B) to the Attor-
ney General. 
‘‘(B) INFORMATION REPORTED.—The re-
port under subparagraph (A) shall consist of 
the following: 
‘‘(i) The total number of absentee bal-
lots validly requested by absent uniformed 
services voters and overseas voters whose 
requests were received by the 47th day be-
fore the election by each unit of local gov-
ernment within the State that will transmit 
absentee ballots. 
‘‘(ii) The total number of ballots 
transmitted to such voters by the 46th day 
before the election by each unit of local 
government within the State that will ad-
minister the election. 
‘‘(iii) Specific information about any 
late transmitted ballots. 
‘‘(C) REQUIREMENT TO SUPPLEMENT IN-
COMPLETE INFORMATION.—If the report under 
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171 
subparagraph (A) has incomplete information 
on any items required to be included in the re-
port, the chief State election official shall make 
all reasonable efforts to expeditiously supple-
ment the report with complete information. 
‘‘(D) FORMAT.—The report under sub-
paragraph (A) shall be in a format prescribed 
by the Attorney General in consultation with 
the chief State election officials of each State. 
‘‘(3) POST-ELECTION REPORT ON NUMBER OF 
ABSENTEE
BALLOTS
TRANSMITTED
AND
RE-
CEIVED.—Not later than 90 days after the date of 
each regularly scheduled general election for Federal 
office, each State and unit of local government 
which administered the election shall (through the 
State, in the case of a unit of local government) sub-
mit a report to the Election Assistance Commission 
on the combined number of absentee ballots trans-
mitted to absent uniformed services voters and over-
seas voters for the election and the combined num-
ber of such ballots which were returned by such vot-
ers and cast in the election, and shall make such re-
port available to the general public that same day.’’. 
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172 
SEC. 1402. ENFORCEMENT. 
(a) AVAILABILITY OF CIVIL PENALTIES AND PRI-
VATE RIGHTS OF ACTION.—Section 105 of the Uniformed 
and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 
20307) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 105. ENFORCEMENT. 
‘‘(a) ACTION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attor-
ney General may bring civil action in an appropriate dis-
trict court for such declaratory or injunctive relief as may 
be necessary to carry out this title. 
‘‘(b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—A person who is 
aggrieved by a violation of this title may bring a civil ac-
tion in an appropriate district court for such declaratory 
or injunctive relief as may be necessary to carry out this 
title. 
‘‘(c) STATE AS ONLY NECESSARY DEFENDANT.—In 
any action brought under this section, the only necessary 
party defendant is the State, and it shall not be a defense 
to any such action that a local election official or a unit 
of local government is not named as a defendant, notwith-
standing that a State has exercised the authority described 
in section 576 of the Military and Overseas Voter Em-
powerment Act to delegate to another jurisdiction in the 
State any duty or responsibility which is the subject of 
an action brought under this section.’’. 
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195 
rived at a polling place prior to closing time 
from voting at the polling place; or 
‘‘(B) to limit the use of mobile voting cen-
ters. 
‘‘(b) LIMITING VARIATIONS ON NUMBER OF HOURS 
OF OPERATION OF POLLING PLACES WITHIN A STATE.— 
‘‘(1) LIMITATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B) and paragraph (2), each 
State shall establish hours of operation for all 
polling places in the State on the date of any 
election for Federal office held in the State 
such that the polling place with the greatest 
number of hours of operation on such date is 
not in operation for more than 2 hours longer 
than the polling place with the fewest number 
of hours of operation on such date. 
‘‘(B) PERMITTING VARIANCE ON BASIS OF 
POPULATION.—Subparagraph 
(A) 
does 
not 
apply to the extent that the State establishes 
variations in the hours of operation of polling 
places on the basis of the overall population or 
the voting age population (as the State may se-
lect) of the unit of local government in which 
such polling places are located. 
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217 
after receipt of a notice under paragraph (1), or 
within 20 days after receipt of the notice if the viola-
tion occurred within 120 days before the date of an 
election for Federal office, the aggrieved person 
may, in a civil action, obtain declaratory or injunc-
tive relief with respect to the violation. 
(3) EXCEPTION.—If the violation occurred 
within 30 days before the date of an election for 
Federal office, the aggrieved person need not provide 
notice to the chief election official of the State under 
paragraph (1) before bringing a civil action to obtain 
declaratory or injunctive relief with respect to the 
violation. 
SEC. 1705. NOTIFICATION OF RESTORATION OF VOTING 
RIGHTS. 
(a) STATE NOTIFICATION.— 
(1) NOTIFICATION.—On the date determined 
under paragraph (2), each State shall notify in writ-
ing any individual who has been convicted of a 
criminal offense under the law of that State that 
such individual has the right to vote in an election 
for Federal office pursuant to the Democracy Res-
toration Act of 2023 and may register to vote in any 
such election and provide such individuals with any 
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587 
considered to be in violation of paragraph (1) so 
long as that joint fundraising committee does not re-
ceive any contributions or make any disbursements 
during the election cycle for which the candidate is 
certified as a participating candidate under this title. 
‘‘(f) PROHIBITION ON LEADERSHIP PACS.— 
‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—A candidate who is cer-
tified as a participating candidate under this title 
with respect to an election may not associate with, 
establish, finance, maintain, or control a leadership 
PAC. 
‘‘(2) 
STATUS
OF
EXISTING
LEADERSHIP 
PACS.—If a candidate established, financed, main-
tained, or controlled a leadership PAC prior to being 
certified as a participating candidate under this title 
and the candidate does not terminate the leadership 
PAC, the candidate shall not be considered to be in 
violation of paragraph (1) so long as the leadership 
PAC does not receive any contributions or make any 
disbursements during the election cycle for which the 
candidate is certified as a participating candidate 
under this title. 
‘‘(3) LEADERSHIP PAC DEFINED.—In this sub-
section, the term ‘leadership PAC’ has the meaning 
given such term in section 304(i)(8)(B). 
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