[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6778 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6778

 To secure the Federal voting rights of certain qualified ex-offenders 
                    who have served their sentences.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 1, 2008

  Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas (for herself, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Johnson of 
 Georgia, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Ms. Baldwin, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Ms. 
    Linda T. Sanchez of California, and Mr. Hinchey) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To secure the Federal voting rights of certain qualified ex-offenders 
                    who have served their sentences.

    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 ``Ex-Offenders Voting Rights Act of 
2008''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The right to vote is the most basic constitutive act of 
        citizenship and regaining the right to vote reintegrates 
        offenders into free society. The right to vote may not be 
        abridged or denied by the United States or by any State on 
        account of race, color, gender, or previous condition of 
        servitude. Basic constitutional principles of fairness and 
        equal protection require an equal opportunity for United States 
        citizens to vote in Federal elections.
            (2) Since the founding of the Nation, most States have 
        enacted laws disenfranchising convicted felons and ex-felons. 
        In the last 30 years, due to the dramatic expansion of the 
        criminal justice system, these laws have significantly affected 
        the political voice of many American communities. The momentum 
        toward reform of these policies has been based on a 
        reconsideration of their wisdom in meeting legitimate 
        correctional objectives and the interests of full democratic 
        participation. Forty-eight States and the District of Columbia 
        prohibit inmates from voting while incarcerated for a felony 
        offense.
            (3) Congress has ultimate supervisory power over Federal 
        elections, an authority that has repeatedly been upheld by the 
        Supreme Court.
            (4) Although State laws determine the qualifications for 
        voting in Federal elections, Congress must ensure that those 
        laws are in accordance with the Constitution. Currently, those 
        laws vary throughout the Nation, resulting in discrepancies 
        regarding which citizens may vote in Federal elections.
            (5) Only two States (Maine and Vermont) permit inmates to 
        vote. Thirty-five States prohibit felons from voting while they 
        are on parole and 30 of these States exclude felony 
        probationers as well. Two States deny the right to vote to all 
        ex-offenders who have completed their sentences. Nine others 
        disenfranchise certain categories of ex-offenders or permit 
        application for restoration of rights for specified offenses 
        after a waiting period (e.g., 5 years in Delaware and Wyoming, 
        and 2 years in Nebraska). Each State has developed its own 
        process of restoring voting rights to ex-offenders but most of 
        these restoration processes are so cumbersome that few ex-
        offenders are able to take advantage of them.
            (6) An estimated 5,300,000 million Americans, or one in 41 
        adults, have currently or permanently lost their voting rights 
        as a result of a felony conviction.
            (7) State disenfranchisement laws disproportionately impact 
        ethnic minorities.
            (8) Thirteen States disenfranchise some or all ex-offenders 
        who have fully served their sentences, regardless of the nature 
        or seriousness of the offense.
            (9) In those States that disenfranchise ex-offenders who 
        have fully served their sentences, the right to vote can be 
        regained in theory, but in practice this possibility is often 
        illusory.
            (10) In eight States, a pardon or order from the Governor 
        is required for an ex-offender to regain the right to vote. In 
        two States, ex-offenders must obtain action by the parole or 
        pardon board to regain that right.
            (11) Offenders convicted of a Federal offense often have 
        additional barriers to regaining voting rights. In at least 16 
        States, Federal ex-offenders cannot use the State procedure for 
        restoring their voting rights. The only method provided by 
        Federal law for restoring voting rights to ex-offenders is a 
        Presidential pardon.
            (12) Few persons who seek to have their right to vote 
        restored have the financial and political resources needed to 
        succeed.
            (13) Thirteen percent of the African-American adult male 
        population, or 1,400,000 African-American men, are 
        disenfranchised. Given current rates of incarceration, 3 in 10 
        African-American men in the next generation will be 
        disenfranchised at some point during their lifetimes. Hispanic 
        citizens are also disproportionately disenfranchised, since 
        those citizens are disproportionately represented in the 
        criminal justice system.
            (14) An estimated 676,730 women are currently ineligible to 
        vote as a result of a felony conviction. More than 2,000,000 
        White Americans (Hispanic and non-Hispanic) are disenfranchised 
        as a result of a felony conviction. In five States that deny 
        the vote to ex-offenders, one in four Black men is permanently 
        disenfranchised.
            (15) Given current rates of incarceration, three in ten of 
        the next generation of Black men can expect to be 
        disenfranchised at some point in their lifetime. In States that 
        disenfranchise ex-offenders, as many as 40 percent of Black men 
        may permanently lose their right to vote. Two million one 
        hundred thousand disenfranchised persons are ex-offenders who 
        have completed their sentences.
            (16) The discrepancies described in this subsection should 
        be addressed by Congress, in the name of fundamental fairness 
        and equal protection.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to restore fairness in the 
Federal election process by ensuring that ex-offenders who have fully 
served their sentences are not denied the right to vote.

SEC. 3. RIGHTS OF CITIZENS.

    (a) Protecting Right To Vote in Federal Elections.--The right of an 
individual who is a citizen of the United States to vote in any 
election for Federal office shall not be denied or abridged because 
that individual has been convicted of a criminal offense unless, at the 
time of the election, such individual is serving a felony sentence in a 
correctional institution or facility.
    (b) Definitions.--In this Act:
            (1) Correctional institution or facility.--The term 
        ``correctional institution or facility'' means any prison, 
        penitentiary, jail, or other institution or facility for the 
        confinement of individuals convicted of criminal offenses, 
        whether publicly or privately operated, except that such term 
        does not include any residential community treatment center (or 
        similar public or private facility).
            (2) Election.--The term ``election'' means--
                    (A) a general, special, primary, or runoff 
                election;
                    (B) a convention or caucus of a political party 
                held to nominate a candidate;
                    (C) a primary election held for the selection of 
                delegates to a national nominating convention of a 
                political party; or
                    (D) a primary election held for the expression of a 
                preference for the nomination of persons for election 
                to the office of President.
            (3) Federal office.--The term ``Federal office'' means the 
        office of President or Vice President, or of Senator or 
        Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, 
        Congress.

SEC. 4. NOTIFYING INDIVIDUALS WHO REGAIN RIGHT TO VOTE.

    (a) Requiring Notification.--
            (1) In general.--The Chief State correctional officer of 
        each State shall ensure that, not later than 30 days after an 
        individual who is serving a felony sentence in a correctional 
        institution or facility in the State is released from the 
        institution or facility, including an individual who is 
        released on parole or probation, the individual is notified of 
        the individual's right to vote in elections for Federal office 
        and of the date of the next such election in which the 
        individual may vote.
            (2) Exception for individuals continuing to serve 
        sentences.--Paragraph (1) does not apply in the case of an 
        individual who is released from a correctional institution or 
        facility to serve a felony sentence in a different correctional 
        institution or facility.
            (3) Definitions.--In this subsection--
                    (A) the term ``parole'' means parole (including 
                mandatory parole) or conditional or supervised release 
                (including mandatory supervised release) which is 
                imposed by a Federal, State, or local court; and
                    (B) the term ``probation'' means probation imposed 
                by a Federal, State, or local court with or without a 
                condition on the individual involved concerning--
                            (i) the individual's freedom of movement,
                            (ii) the payment of damages by the 
                        individual,
                            (iii) periodic reporting by the individual 
                        to an officer of the court, or
                            (iv) supervision of the individual by an 
                        officer of the court.
    (b) Application to Individuals Released From Federal Institutions 
or Facilities.--Subsection (a) shall apply to the Director of the 
Bureau of Prisons with respect to individuals released from an 
institution or facility under the Director's jurisdiction in the same 
manner as such subsection applies to the Chief State correctional 
officer of a State with respect to individuals released from 
institutions or facilities in that State.

SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT.

    (a) Attorney General.--The Attorney General may bring a civil 
action in a court of competent jurisdiction to obtain such declaratory 
or injunctive relief as is necessary to remedy a violation of this Act.
    (b) Private Right of Action.--
            (1) Notice.--A person who is aggrieved by a violation of 
        this Act may provide written notice of the violation to the 
        chief election official of the State involved.
            (2) Action.--Except as provided in paragraph (3), if the 
        violation is not corrected within 90 days after receipt of a 
        notice provided under paragraph (1), or within 20 days after 
        receipt of the notice if the violation occurred within 120 days 
        before the date of an election for Federal office, the 
        aggrieved person may bring a civil action in such a court to 
        obtain the declaratory or injunctive relief with respect to the 
        violation.
            (3) Action for violation shortly before a federal 
        election.--If the violation occurred within 30 days before the 
        date of an election for Federal office, the aggrieved person 
        shall not be required to provide notice to the chief election 
        official of the State under paragraph (1) before bringing a 
        civil action in such a court to obtain the declaratory or 
        injunctive relief with respect to the violation.

SEC. 6. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.

    (a) No Prohibition on Less Restrictive Laws.--Nothing in this Act 
shall be construed to prohibit a State from enacting any State law that 
affords the right to vote in any election for Federal office on terms 
less restrictive than those terms established by this Act.
    (b) No Limitation on Other Laws.--The rights and remedies 
established by this Act shall be in addition to all other rights and 
remedies provided by law, and shall not supersede, restrict, or limit 
the application of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et 
seq.) or the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg 
et seq.).
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