Vote By Mail Tracking Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. FRY. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5658) to amend title 39, United States Code, to require mail-in ballots to use the Postal Service barcode service, and for other purposes, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 5658

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Vote by Mail Tracking Act''. SEC. 2. MAIL-IN BALLOTS AND POSTAL SERVICE BARCODE SERVICE.

(a) In General.--Title 39, United States Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 30 the following new chapter: ``CHAPTER 31--ELECTION MAIL ``Sec. ``3101. Trackable election mail. ``Sec. 3101. Trackable election mail

``(a) In General.--No entity of government shall furnish a ballot envelope for the purpose of being carried or delivered by mail unless such envelope--

``(1) contains a Postal Service barcode (or successive service or marking) that enables tracking of each individual ballot consistent with parameters that the Postal Service may promulgate by regulation;

``(2) satisfies requirements for ballot envelope design that the Postal Service may promulgate by regulation;

``(3) satisfies requirements for machineable letters that the Postal Service may promulgate by regulation; and

``(4) includes the Official Election Mail Logo (or any successor label that the Postal Service may establish for ballots).

``(b) Application.--Subsection (a) does not apply to a Federal write-in absentee ballot under section 103 of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20303).

``(c) Information.--Not later than June 1 of each calendar year, the Postmaster General shall provide, to the entities described in the matter preceding paragraph (1) of subsection (a), the information necessary to comply with the requirements of this subsection, including how to access Postal Service tools to assist in generating the barcode or successive marking required by subsection (a)(1).''.

(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of chapters for part IV of title 39, United States Code, is amended by adding after the item relating to chapter 30 the following: ``31. Election Mail.........................................3101''.....

(c) Application.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply to any election for Federal office occurring in 2026 and any succeeding year.
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Mr. FRY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5658, the Vote by Mail Tracking Act.

Every American citizen who votes deserves to know that their vote has been counted and their voice has been heard.

This bill, the Vote by Mail Tracking Act, would ensure that this is the case. H.R. 5658 requires that all ballots for Federal election mailed within the United States to or from a voter contain a Postal Service barcode. This barcode would allow voters to track the status of their ballot in the United States Postal Service system, allowing voters to know in real time when their ballot is received by the Postal Service, when it is in transit, and when it has arrived at their election authority.

Beyond a Postal Service barcode, under the bill, a ballot must meet other requirements, including utilizing the Postal Service's envelope design standards. Additionally, the ballot must include the official election mail logo or any future logo the Postal Service establishes for ballots.

While I encourage every citizen who wishes to vote in person on election day to do so, many States have adopted vote-by-mail policies. We must take the integrity of our elections serious and account for the fact that a significant number of Americans choose to cast their ballots by mail.

This bill is a commonsense, bipartisan response to a rising level of mail-in voting nationwide and will put in place requirements to ensure that the U.S. Postal Service can more efficiently handle and more transparently track the mailed ballots of every American citizen.

I thank my colleagues, Representatives Porter, Donalds, and Mace, for their work on this important legislation.

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Mr. FRY. Madam Speaker, I encourage my House colleagues to support this bipartisan, commonsense bill that will help further build trust in American Federal elections in the future, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. FRY. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

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