[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 156 (Sunday, September 28, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2114]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   DEMOCRACY RESTORATION ACT OF 2008

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 26, 2008

  Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to introduce the Democracy 
Restoration Act of 2008. This legislation will serve to clarify and 
expand voting rights as well as assist former felons with their 
reintegration into our democracy.
  The Sentencing Project reports that, since 1997, 19 States have 
amended felony disenfranchisement policies in an effort to reduce their 
restrictiveness and expand voter eligibility. These reforms have 
resulted in more than 760,00 citizens regaining their voting rights. 
Yet, despite these reforms, an estimated 5 million people will continue 
to be ineligible to vote in November's Presidential election, including 
nearly 4 million who reside in the 35 States that still prohibit some 
combination of persons on probation, parole, and/or people who have 
completed their sentence from voting.
  I believe that such prohibitions on the right to vote undermine both 
the voting system and the fundamental rights of ex-offenders. In the 
past two election cycles, flawed voter purges have deprived legitimate 
voters of their rights. Moreover, in Ohio, an erroneous interpretation 
of State law by the Secretary of State deprived thousands of ex-felons 
of even the right to register. Only Federal law can conclusively 
resolve the ambiguities in this area plaguing our voting system.
  Earlier this year, President Bush signed the Second Chance Act into 
law, signaling a greater awareness of the need to implement policies to 
aid the reintegration of our ex-felon community. This legislation is 
the next step in restoring the ex-felon community to full citizenship. 
Denying voting rights to ex-offenders denies them the opportunity to 
fully participate and contribute to their society. Disenfranchisement 
laws isolate and alienate ex-offenders and serve as one more obstacle 
in their attempt to successfully reintegrate into society.
  The legislation is a narrowly crafted effort to expand voting rights 
for ex-felons while protecting State prerogatives to generally 
establish voting qualifications. The legislation would only apply to 
persons who have been released from prison, and it would only apply to 
Federal elections. As such, our bill is fully consistent with 
constitutional requirements established by the Supreme Court in a 
series of decisions upholding Federal voting rights laws.
  In past Congresses, voting restoration legislation has been supported 
by a broad coalition of groups interested in voting and civil rights, 
including the NAACP, ACLU, the National Council of Churches (National 
and Washington Office), the National Urban League, the Human Rights 
Watch, and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, among many others.
  The practice of many States denying voting rights to former felons 
represents a vestige from a time when suffrage was denied to whole 
classes of our population based on race, gender, religion, national 
origin, and property. I believe that we fail not only ex-
offenders by denying them the right to vote, but the rest of a society 
that has struggled throughout its history to be legitimate and 
inclusive.
  Just like poll taxes and literacy tests prevented an entire class of 
citizens, namely African Americans, from integrating into society after 
centuries of slavery, felon disenfranchisement laws prevent ex-
offenders from reintegrating into society after retribution. It is long 
past time that these restrictions be relegated to unenlightened 
history.

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