,i #aafth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,h4 ,r4 #hfjg ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,october #af1 #bjbj,mr4 ,larson of ,connecticut 7for himself and ,mr4 ,courtney7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,oversight and ,reform1 and in addition to the ,committees on ,house ,administration1 and ,armed ,services1 for a period to be subsequently determined by the ,speaker1 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned ,a ,,bill ,to protect and promote the ability of members of the ,armed ,forces and citizens to vote by mail1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,u4,s4 ,postal ,service ,accountability and ,voting ,rights ,act4 #b4 ,postal service operation and level of service changes temporarily prohibited 7a7 ,in general ,during the period beginning on the date of the enactment of this ,act and ending on ,january #ca1 #bjba1 the ,united ,states ,postal ,service may not implement or approve any change to the operations or the level of service provided by the ,postal ,service from those in effect on ,january #a1 #bjbj1 that would reduce service performance or impede prompt1 reliable1 and efficient services1 including any of the following actions3 7#a7 ,any change in the nature of postal services which will generally affect service on a nationwide or substantially nationwide basis4 7#b7 ,any revision of service standards4 7#c7 ,any closure or consolidation of any post office or postal facility1 or any reduction of such office or facility hours4 7#d7 ,any prohibition or restriction on the use of overtime or overtime pay to ,postal ,service officers or employees4 7#e7 ,any change that would prevent the ,postal ,service from meeting its service standards or cause a decline in measurements of performance relative to those service standards4 7#f7 ,any change that would have the effect of delaying deferring1 or curtailing mail1 allowing for the non-delivery of mail to a delivery route1 or increasing the volume of undelivered mail4 7#g7 ,treating election mail as any class of mail other than first-class mail1 regardless of whether such treatment requires payment of overtime pay to officers or employees of the ,postal ,service4 7#h7 ,removing1 decommissioning1 or any other stoppage of mail sorting machines1 other than for routine maintenance4 7#i7 ,removing or eliminating any mail collection box that is available to the public4 7#aj7 ,enacting any rule1 policy1 or standard the purpose or effect of which would delay the delivery of mail to or from a government entity4 7#aa7 ,instituting any hiring freeze4 7b7 ,reversal of policies hindering delivery of mail ,not later than #cj days after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,postal ,service shall reverse any initiative or action that was implemented during the period beginning on ,january #a1 #bjbj1 and ending on the date of the enactment of this ,act and is causing delay in processing or delivery or non-delivery of the mail4 7c7 ,definitions ,in this section3 7#a7 ,election mail ,the term election mail means mail consisting of-- 7,a7 voter registration application forms1 completed voter registration application forms1 and voter registration cards or similar materials2 7,b7 absentee and other mail-in ballot application forms1 blank absentee and other mail-in ballots1 and completed absentee and other mail-in ballots2 and 7,c7 other materials relating to an election which are mailed by a ,state or local election official to individuals who are registered to vote in the election4 7#b7 ,government entity ,the term government entity means the ,federal ,government or any ,state 7as that term is defined in section #caa of title #e1 ,united ,states ,code7 or local government and any subdivision thereof4 7d7 ,authorization of appropriations ,there is authorized to be appropriated to the ,postal ,service ,fund 7established under section #bjjc of title #ci1 ,united ,states ,code7 #a1jjj1jjj1jjj for fiscal years #bjbj and #bjba to carry out this section4 #c4 ,prohibiting certain operational and level of service changes 7a7 ,in general ,during any calendar year beginning after the date of the enactment of this ,act in which a ,federal election is held1 the ,postal ,service may not implement or approve any change to the operations or the level of service provided by the ,postal ,service from those in effect on ,january #a of the calendar year1 that would reduce service performance or impede prompt1 reliable1 and efficient services1 including the actions described in paragraphs 7#a7 through 7#aa7 of section #b7;a74 7b7 ,service to military and families of military ,the ,postal ,service may not implement or approve any change that reduces the level of service with respect to absent uniformed service voters or overseas voters below the level of service in effect on ,january #a1 #bjbj4 #d4 ,tracking program for absentee ballots and voter registration application forms2 availability of ,federal write-in absentee ballot for all voters 7a7 ,requirements ,title ,,iii of the ,help ,america ,vote ,act of #bjjb 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #bajha et seq47 is amended-- 7#a7 by redesignating section #cjd as section #cje2 and 7#b7 by inserting after section #cjc the following new sections3 #cjd4 ,absentee ballot and voter registration application form tracking program 7a7 ,absentee ballot tracking 7#a7 ,requirement ,each ,state shall carry out a program to track and confirm the receipt of absentee ballots in an election for ,federal office under which the ,state or local election official responsible for the receipt of voted absentee ballots in the election carries out procedures to track and confirm the receipt of such ballots1 and makes information on the receipt of such ballots available to the individual who cast the ballot by means of online access using the ,internet site of the official's office4 7#b7 ,information on whether vote was counted ,the information referred to under paragraph 7#a7 with respect to the receipt of an absentee ballot shall include information regarding whether the vote cast on the ballot was counted1 and1 in the case of a vote which was not counted1 the reasons therefor4 7b7 ,voter registration application form tracking 7#a7 ,requirement ,each ,state shall carry out a program to track and confirm the receipt of voter registration application forms in an election for ,federal office under which the ,state or local election official responsible for processing such forms carries out procedures to track and confirm the receipt of such forms1 and makes information on the receipt of such forms available to the individual applicant by means of online access using the ,internet site of the official's office4 7#b7 ,information on whether form was accepted ,the information referred to under paragraph 7#a7 with respect to the receipt of a voter registration application form shall include information regarding whether the form was accepted and the applicant is registered to vote in the election for ,federal office1 and1 in the case of a form which was not accepted1 the reasons therefor4 7c7 ,use of ,toll-,free ,telephone ,number by ,officials ,without ,internet ,site ,a program established by a ,state or local election official whose office does not have an ,internet site may meet the requirements of subsections 7a7 and 7b7 if the official has established a toll-free telephone number that may be used-- 7#a7 by an individual who cast an absentee ballot to obtain the information on the receipt of the voted absentee ballot as provided under subsection 7a72 and 7#b7 by an individual applicant for voter registration to obtain the information on the receipt of the voter registration application form as provided under subsection 7b74 7d7 ,effective date ,this section shall apply with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for ,federal office held in ,november #bjbb and each succeeding election for ,federal office4 7e7 ,authorization of appropriations ,there is authorized to be appropriated #a1jjj1jjj1jjj for each of fiscal years #bjba through #bjbc to carry out this section4 4 7b7 ,conforming amendment relating to enforcement ,section #dja of such ,act 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #baaaa7 is amended by striking sections #cja1 #cjb1 and #cjc and inserting subtitle ,a of title ,,iii4 7c7 ,clerical amendment ,the table of contents of such ,act is amended-- 7#a7 by redesignating the item relating to sections #cjd as relating to section #cje2 and 7#b7 by inserting after the item relating to section #cjc the following new item3 ,sec4 #cjd4 ,absentee ballot and voter registration application form tracking program4 4 #e4 ,promoting use of ,federal write-in absentee ballot under ,uniformed and ,overseas ,citizens ,absentee ,voting ,act 7a7 ,eliminating exemptions for ,states using alternative ballots and ,states making ballots available #ij days before election ,section #ajc of the ,uniformed and ,overseas ,citizens ,absentee ,voting ,act 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #bjcjc7 is amended-- 7#a7 by striking subsections 7e7 and 7g72 and 7#b7 by redesignating subsection 7f7 as subsection 7e74 7b7 ,effective date ,the amendments made by this section shall apply with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for ,federal office held in ,november #bjbj and each succeeding election for ,federal office4 #f4 ,reports to ,congress 7a7 ,initial report ,not later than #cj days after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,postmaster ,general shall submit to ,congress a report on any change to the operations or the level of service provided by the ,postal ,service from those in effect on ,january #a1 #bjbj1 that-- 7#a7 reduced service performance or impeded prompt1 reliable1 and efficient services1 including any actions described in paragraphs 7#a7 through 7#aa7 of section #b7;a72 and 7#b7 was implemented or approved during the period beginning on ,june #ae1 #bjbj1 and ending on the date of the enactment of this ,act4 7b7 ,biennial report ,not later than ,january #a of any odd-numbered calendar year beginning after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,postmaster ,general shall submit to ,congress a report on any changes described in section #b7;a7 that were implemented or approved during the previous calendar year4 7c7 ,military and overseas absentee voting ,not later #cj days after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 and annually thereafter1 the ,secretary of ,defense1 acting through the ,presidential designee under the ,uniformed and ,overseas ,citizens ,absentee ,voting ,act1 shall submit to ,congress a report on how changes to the operations or level of service provided by the ,postal ,service affect absentee voting by absent uniformed service voters and overseas voters under such ,act4 7d7 ,implementation of ,military and ,overseas ,voter ,empowerment ,act ,not later than #cj days after the date of the enactment of this ,act and annually thereafter1 the ,inspector ,general of the ,department of ,defense shall submit to ,congress a report on the effectiveness of the implementation of the ,military and ,overseas ,voter ,empowerment ,act 7subtitle ,h of title ,v of the ,national ,defense ,authorization ,act for ,fiscal ,year #bjaj2 ,public ,law #aaa-hd7 and the amendments made by such ,act1 including the effectiveness of such ,act and such amendments in promoting registration and voting by absent uniformed service voters and overseas voters and in increasing the availability and effectiveness of voter registration and voting assistance services for such voters1 and shall include in the report such recommendations as the ,inspector ,general considers appropriate for improving the availability and effectiveness of such services for such voters4 #g4 ,cyberspace information threat training 7a7 ,in general ,in addition to any currently mandated training1 the ,secretary of ,defense shall annually furnish to all members of the ,armed ,forces and all civilian employees of the ,department of ,defense training regarding cyberspace information threats4 7b7 ,definitions ,in this section-- 7#a7 ,covered entity ,the term covered entity means-- 7,a7 a government of a foreign country or an agency or instrumentality of a foreign country2 7,b7 a foreign person that is aided1 abetted1 or directed by a government of a foreign country or an agency or instrumentality of a foreign country2 7,c7 a terrorist organization2 or 7,d7 any other foreign adversary of the ,united ,states4 7#b7 ,cyberspace information threat ,the term cyberspace information threat means any true1 false1 or misleading information from a covered entity that is-- 7,a7 communicated through cyberspace2 and 7,b7 misleading or influential in a manner that constitutes a threat to national security or to the democratic processes of the ,united ,states1 or that operates to the advantage of a covered entity4 #h4 ,definitions ,in this ,act3 7#a7 ,absent uniformed service voter2 overseas voter ,the terms absent uniformed service voter and overseas voter have the meanings given such terms in section #ajg of the ,uniformed and ,overseas ,citizens ,absentee ,voting ,act 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #bjcaj74 7#b7 ,federal elections ,the term ,federal election means a regularly scheduled general election for ,federal office4 7#c7 ,postal ,service ,the term ,postal ,service has the meaning given such term in section #ajb of title #ci1 ,united ,states ,code4