I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4476 
To amend title 39, United States Code, to establish standards for the 
processing and delivery of election mail, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 6, 2023 
Mrs. CHAVEZ-DEREMER introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, and in addition to the 
Committee on the Judiciary, 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, to establish stand-
ards for the processing and delivery of election mail, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Election Integrity Mail 
Reform Act of 2023’’. 
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SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS WITH RESPECT TO ELECTION 
MAIL. 
(a) PRIORITIZING
ELECTION
MAIL.—Title 39, 
United States Code, is amended by adding after chapter 
36 the following: 
‘‘CHAPTER 37—ELECTION AND POLITICAL 
MAIL 
‘‘Sec. 
‘‘3701. Prioritization of processing and delivery of election mail. 
‘‘3702. Use of nonprofit permit for cooperative mailings. 
‘‘3703. Marking or notice on election mail. 
‘‘3704. Application to Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act. 
‘‘§ 3701. Prioritization of processing and delivery of 
election mail 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Postal Service shall give pri-
ority to the processing and delivery of election mail. In 
carrying out this subsection, the Postal Service shall at 
a minimum— 
‘‘(1) deliver any election mail regardless of the 
amount of postage paid; 
‘‘(2) shall, to the greatest extent practicable, 
process and clear election mail from any postal facil-
ity each day; and 
‘‘(3) carry and deliver election mail expedi-
tiously. 
‘‘(b) ELECTION MAIL WITH INSUFFICIENT POST-
AGE.—In carrying out subsection (a)(1), the Postal Serv-
ice shall process and deliver election mail with insufficient 
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postage in the same manner as election mail with suffi-
cient postage, but may collect insufficient postage after 
delivery of any election mail with insufficient postage. 
‘‘(c) UNDERFUNDED OR OVERDRAWN ACCOUNTS.— 
The Postal Service shall process and deliver election mail, 
under the standards in place under subsection (a), sent 
from a customer using an account registered with the 
Postal Service (including a corporate account or an ad-
vance deposit account) even if such account is under-
funded or overdrawn. Nothing in this section shall be con-
strued to limit or otherwise prevent the Postal Service 
from seeking reimbursement from any person regarding 
unpaid postage. 
‘‘(d) ELECTION MAIL DEFINED.—In this chapter, 
the term ‘election mail’ means any item mailed to or from 
an individual for purposes of the individual’s participation 
in an election for public office, including balloting mate-
rials, voter registration cards, absentee ballot applications, 
polling place notification and photographic voter identi-
fication materials. 
‘‘§ 3702. Use of nonprofit permit for cooperative mail-
ings 
‘‘Notwithstanding any other law, rule, or regulation, 
a national, State, or local committee of a political party 
(as defined under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 
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1971) which is eligible to mail at the nonprofit rate may 
conduct a cooperative mailing at that nonprofit rate with 
a candidate, a candidate’s committee, or another com-
mittee of a political party, and may seek reimbursement 
from such a candidate, candidate’s committee, or com-
mittee of a political party for the costs of such mailing. 
‘‘§ 3703. Marking or notice on election mail 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of assisting 
election officials in processing election mail, the Postal 
Service shall place a marking or notice indicating that a 
piece of mail is election mail. 
‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—The Postal Service may de-
termine the appropriate manner in which subsection (a) 
is carried out, but at a minimum such marking or notice 
shall— 
‘‘(1) be placed, as soon as practicable, at the 
time the election mail is received by the Postal Serv-
ice, in a conspicuous and legible type or in a com-
mon machine-readable technology on the envelope or 
other cover in which the election mail is mailed; and 
‘‘(2) clearly demonstrate the date and time that 
such marking or notice was so placed. 
‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-
tion may be construed as requiring any change to the 
processes and procedures used by the Postal Service with 
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respect to Postal Service barcodes on envelopes carried or 
delivered by the Postal Service. 
‘‘§ 3704. Application to Uniformed and Overseas Citi-
zens Absentee Voting Act 
‘‘This chapter shall not apply to balloting materials 
under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Vot-
ing Act and nothing in this chapter shall be construed to 
alter or otherwise affect the operation of such Act or sec-
tion 3406 of this title.’’. 
(b) POSTMARKING STAMPS.—Section 503 of title 18, 
United States Code, is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘Whoever forges’’ and inserting 
‘‘(a) Whoever forges’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘or such impression thereof,’’ 
and all that follows and inserting the following: 
‘‘or such impression thereof— 
‘‘(1) shall be fined under this title or impris-
oned not more than five years, or both; or 
‘‘(2) if the impression from a postmarking 
stamp or impression thereof forged, counterfeited, 
used, sold, or possessed in violation of this section 
is applied to a mailed ballot for an election for Fed-
eral, State, or local office, shall be fined under this 
title or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or 
both.’’; and 
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(3) by adding at the end following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(a) Whoever, with the intent to falsify the date on 
which a postmark was applied, applies to a mailed ballot 
described in subsection (a)(2) a genuine postmark that 
bears a date other than the date on which such postmark 
was applied, shall be subject to the penalties set forth in 
such subsection.’’. 
Æ 
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