[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 74 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 H. R. 74

           To protect the voting rights of homeless citizens.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 7, 1997

 Mr. Lewis of Georgia (for himself, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Ms. Norton, 
 Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, Mr. Ackerman, Mr. Foglietta, Mr. Conyers, 
 Mr. Towns, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Flake, Mr. Hall of Ohio, Mr. Oberstar, Mr. 
 Fazio of California, Mr. Kennedy of Massachusetts, Mr. Gonzalez, and 
  Mr. Shays) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
           To protect the voting rights of homeless citizens.

    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 ``Voting Rights of Homeless Citizens 
Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. VOTING RIGHTS OF HOMELESS CITIZENS.

    No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, 
practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or 
political subdivision to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of 
the United States to vote because that citizen resides at or in a 
nontraditional abode.

SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT.

    The Attorney General may commence in the name of the United States 
a civil action (including an action against a State or political 
subdivision) or an aggrieved citizen may institute a proceeding under 
this Act, for injunctive relief against a violation of section 2.

SEC. 4. RELATIONSHIP TO VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965.

    This Act shall not be construed to impair any right guaranteed by 
the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.).

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act, the term ``nontraditional abode'' includes--
            (1) a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter 
        designed to provide temporary living accommodations (including 
        welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and transitional housing 
        for the mentally ill); and
            (2) a public or private place not designated for, or 
        ordinarily used as, regular sleeping accommodation for human 
        beings.

SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act applies with respect to elections taking place after 
December 31, 1997.
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