Washington, D.C. -On Wednesday, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, the Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, introduced the Vote by Mail Tracking Act, to make it easier for election officials and voters to track the status of their ballots and for the Postal Service to identify, process, and deliver ballots more effectively.
The legislation will be included in an amendment introduced by the Chair of the Committee on House Administration, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, to H.R. 1, the For the People Act, which will be considered by the House next week.
“Allowing voters to track their ballots will reduce concerns about ballots not being counted, as well as eliminate fears of ballots being counted that were mailed in after required deadlines," Chairwoman Maloney said. “This legislation will also help speed up counting mail-in ballots in an accurate manner by implementing specifications for ballot envelopes helping us protect the sanctity of future elections."
The Vote by Mail Tracking Act responds to the record number of mail-in ballots cast in the November 2020 election, which illustrates the need to ensure that election officials and individual voters have the ability to track ballots once they are in custody of the Postal Service. The bill would require:
* all ballots sent in federal elections to include a Postal Service trackable barcode on the envelope to enable boards of election and individuals to track sent ballots;
* all ballot envelops to satisfy design requirements that the Postal Service may put in place by regulation to facilitate the efficient sorting and delivery of ballots;
* all ballot envelopes to be sortable by Postal Service machines to reduce processing and delivery time; and
* the inclusion of the Postal Service’s Official Election Mail Logo to make it easier for employees to identify ballot mail.
