1.This Act may be cited as the
Democracy Restoration Act of
2008
.
2.The Congress makes the following
findings:
(1)The right to vote is the most basic
constitutive act of citizenship. Regaining the right to vote reintegrates
offenders into free society, helping to enhance public safety.
(2)Article I, section 4 of the Constitution of
the United States grants Congress ultimate supervisory power over Federal
elections, an authority which has repeatedly been upheld by the Supreme
Court.
(3)Basic constitutional principles of fairness
and equal protection require an equal opportunity for Americans to vote in
Federal elections. 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. The 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution
empower Congress to enact measures to protect the right to vote in Federal
elections.
(4)There are three areas where discrepancies
in State laws regarding felony convictions lead to unfairness in Federal
elections: (A) there is no uniform standard for voting in Federal elections
which leads to an unfair disparity and unequal participation in Federal
elections based solely on where a person lives; (B) laws governing the
restoration of voting rights after a felony conviction are unequal throughout
the country and persons in some States can easily regain their voting rights
while in other States persons effectively lose their right to vote permanently;
and (C) State disenfranchisement laws disproportionately impact racial ethnic
minorities.
(5)Disenfranchisement results from varying
State laws that restrict voting while under some form of criminal justice
supervision or after the completion of a felony sentence in some States. Two
States do not disenfranchise felons at all (Maine and Vermont). Forty-eight
States and the District of Columbia have disenfranchisement laws that deprive
convicted offenders of the right to vote while they are in prison. In
thirty-five States, convicted offenders may not vote while they are on parole
and thirty of these States disenfranchise felony probationers as well. In ten
States, a conviction can result in lifetime disenfranchisement.
(6)An estimated 5,300,000 Americans, or about
one in forty-one adults, currently cannot vote as a result of a felony
conviction. Nearly 4,000,000 (74 percent) of the 5,300,000 disqualified voters
are not in prison, but are on probation or parole, or are ex-offenders.
Approximately 2,000,000 of those individuals are individuals who have completed
their entire sentence, including probation and parole, yet remain
disenfranchised.
(7)In those States that disenfranchise
ex-offenders, the right to vote can be regained in theory, but in practice this
possibility is often illusory. Offenders must either obtain a pardon or order
from the Governor or action by the parole or pardon board, depending on the
offense and State. Offenders convicted of a Federal offense often have
additional barriers to regaining voting rights.
(8)In at least 16 States, Federal offenders
cannot use the State procedure for restoring their civil rights. The only
method provided by Federal law for restoring voting rights to ex-offenders is a
Presidential pardon. Few persons who seek to have their right to vote restored
have the financial and political resources needed to succeed.
(9)State disenfranchisement laws
disproportionately impact ethnic minorities. Thirteen percent of the
African-American adult male population, or 1,400,000 African-American men, are
disenfranchised. Given current rates of incarceration, three in ten of the next
generation of black men will be disenfranchised at some point during their
lifetime. Hispanic citizens are also disproportionately disenfranchised since
they are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system.
(10)Disenfranchising citizens who have been
convicted of a felony offense and who are living and working in the community
serves no compelling State interest and hinders their rehabilitation and
reintegration into society.
(11)State disenfranchisement laws suppress
electoral participation among eligible voters and damage the integrity of the
electoral process. State disenfranchisement laws significantly impact the rate
of electoral participation among the children of disenfranchised
parents.
(12)The United States in the only Western
democracy that permits the permanent denial of voting rights to individuals
with felony convictions.
3.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 such individual is serving a felony sentence in a correctional
institution or facility at the time of the election.
4.
(a)The Attorney General may, in a civil
action, obtain such declaratory or injunctive relief as is necessary to remedy
a violation of this Act.
(b)
(1)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)Except as provided in paragraph (3), if the
violation is not corrected within 90 days after receipt of a notice 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, in a civil action obtain declaratory or injunctive relief
with respect to the violation.
(3)If the violation occurred within 30 days
before the date of an election for Federal office, the aggrieved person need
not provide notice to the chief election official of the State under paragraph
(1) before bringing a civil action to obtain declaratory or injunctive relief
with respect to the violation.
5.Notification of restoration of voting
rights
(a)
(1)On the date determined under paragraph (2),
each State shall notify in writing any individual who has been convicted of a
criminal offense under the law of that State that such individual has the right
to vote in an election for Federal office pursuant to the Democracy Restoration
Act and may register to vote in any such election.
(2)
(A)In the case of such an individual who has
been convicted of a felony, the notification required under paragraph (1) shall
be given on the date on which the individual—
(i)is sentenced to serve only a term of
probation; or
(ii)is released from the custody of that State
(other than to the custody of another State or the Federal Government to serve
a term of imprisonment for a felony conviction).
(B)In the case of such an individual who has
been convicted of a misdemeanor, the notification required under paragraph (1)
shall be given on the date on which such individual is sentenced by a State
court.
(b)
(1)On the date determined under paragraph (2),
the Director of the Bureau of Prisons shall notify in writing any individual
who has been convicted of a criminal offense under Federal law that such
individual has the right to vote in an election for Federal office pursuant to
the Democracy Restoration Act and may register to vote in any such
election.
(2)
(A)In the case of such an individual who has
been convicted of a felony, the notification required under paragraph (1) shall
be given on the date on which the individual—
(i)is sentenced to serve only a term of
probation by a court established by an Act of Congress; or
(ii)is released from the custody of the Bureau
of Prisons (other than to the custody of a State to serve a term of
imprisonment for a felony conviction).
(B)In the case of such an individual who has
been convicted of a misdemeanor, the notification required under paragraph (1)
shall be given on the date on which such individual is sentenced by a State
court.
6.For purposes of this Act:
(1)Correctional institution or
facilityThe 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)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)The term
Federal office
means the office of President or Vice President
of the United States, or of Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or
Resident Commissioner to, the Congress of the United States.
(4)The term probation
means
probation, imposed by a Federal, State, or local court, with or without a
condition on the individual involved concerning—
(A)the individual’s freedom of
movement;
(B)the payment of damages by the
individual;
(C)periodic reporting by the individual to an
officer of the court; or
(D)supervision of the individual by an officer
of the court.
7.
(a)State laws relating to voting
rightsNothing in this Act
shall be construed to prohibit the States enacting any State law which affords
the right to vote in any election for Federal office on terms less restrictive
than those established by this Act.
(b)The rights and remedies established by this
Act are in addition to all other rights and remedies provided by law, and
neither rights and remedies established by this Act shall 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 (42 U.S.C. 1973–gg).
8.No State, unit of local government, or other
person may receive or use, to construct or otherwise improve a prison, jail, or
other place of incarceration, any Federal grant amounts unless that person has
in effect a program under which each individual incarcerated in that person’s
jurisdiction who is a citizen of the United States is notified, upon release
from such incarceration, of that individual’s rights under section 3.
9.This Act shall apply to
citizens of the United States voting in any election for Federal office held
after the date of the enactment of this Act.