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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 906

To secure the Federal voting rights of persons who have been released

from incarceration.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 2, 1999

Mr. CONYERS (for himself, Mr. FROST, Mr. RANGEL, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of

Texas, Mr. MEEHAN, Ms. WATERS, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. BROWN of Ohio,

Mr. MEEKS of New York, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. RUSH, Mr.

OWENS, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. WYNN, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr.

HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. LEE, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. HILLIARD, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. FORD, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, and

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to

the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To secure the Federal voting rights of persons who have

been released from incarceration.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Civic Participation and

5 Rehabilitation Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress makes the following findings:
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1 (1) The right to vote is the most basic constitu2 tive act of citizenship and regaining the right to vote

3 reintegrates offenders into free society. The right to

4 vote may not be abridged or denied by the United

5 States or by any State on account of race, color,

6 gender or previous condition of servitude. Basic con7 stitutional principles of fairness and equal protection

8 require an equal opportunity for Americans to vote

9 in Federal elections. Congress has ultimate super10 visory power over Federal elections, an authority

11 which has repeatedly been upheld by the Supreme

12 Court.

13 (2) Congress finds three areas where discrep14 ancies in State laws regarding felony convictions

15 lead to unfairness in Federal elections: (A) there is

16 no uniform standard for voting in Federal elections

17 which leads to an unfair disparity and unequal par18 ticipation in Federal elections based solely on where

19 a person lives; (B) laws governing the restoration of

20 voting rights after a felony conviction are unequal

21 throughout the country and persons in some States

22 can easily regain their voting rights while in other

23 States persons effectively lose their right to vote per24 manently; and (C) State disenfranchisement laws

25 disproportionately impact ethnic minorities.
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1 (3) Although State law determines the quali2 fications for voting, Congress must ensure that those

3 laws are in accordance with the Constitution. Cur4 rent laws vary throughout the country resulting in

5 discrepancies regarding which citizens may vote in

6 Federal elections.

7 (4) An estimated 3,900,000 Americans, or one

8 in fifty adults, currently cannot vote as a result of

9 a felony conviction. Women represent about a half

10 million of this total. Disenfranchisement results

11 from varying State laws that restrict voting while

12 under some form of criminal justice supervision or

13 after the completion of a felony sentence in some

14 States. Four States do not disenfranchise felons at

15 all (Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and

16 Vermont). Forty-six States and the District of

17 Columbia have disenfranchisement laws that deprive

18 convicted offenders of the right to vote while they

19 are in prison. In thirty-two States, convicted offend20 ers may not vote while they are on parole and in

21 twenty-nine States probationers may not vote. Four22 teen States disenfranchise ex-offenders who have

23 fully served their sentences, regardless of the nature

24 or seriousness of the offense. Three-fourths (73%) of
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1 the 3,900,000 disqualified voters are not in prison,

2 but are on probation, parole or are ex-offenders.

3 (5) In those States that disenfranchise ex-of4 fenders, the right to vote can be regained in theory,

5 but in practice this possibility is often illusory. In

6 eight States, a pardon or order from the Governor

7 is required. In two States, ex-offenders must obtain

8 action by the parole or pardon board. Offenders con9 victed of a Federal offense often have additional bar10 riers to regaining voting rights. In at least 16

11 States, Federal offenders cannot use the State pro12 cedure for restoring their civil rights. The only

13 method provided by Federal law for restoring voting

14 rights to ex-offenders is a Presidential pardon. Few

15 persons who seek to have their right to vote restored

16 have the financial and political resources needed to

17 succeed.

18 (6) Thirteen percent of the African American

19 adult male population, or 1,400,000 African Amer20 ican men, are disenfranchised. Given current rates

21 of incarceration, three in ten of the next generation

22 of black men will be disenfranchised at some point

23 during their lifetime. Hispanic citizens are also dis24 proportionately disenfranchised since they are dis-
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1 proportionately represented in the criminal justice

2 system.

3 (7) These discrepancies should be addressed by

4 Congress. Basic concepts of fundamental fairness

5 and equal protection require an equal opportunity

6 for Americans to vote in Federal elections. This Act

7 will restore fairness in the Federal election process

8 and promote reintegration of former offenders into

9 a life as law abiding citizens of the United States.

10 SEC. 3. RIGHTS OF CITIZENS.

11 The right of an individual who is a citizen of the

12 United States to vote in any election for Federal office

13 shall not be denied or abridged because that individual has

14 been convicted of a criminal offense unless such individual

15 is serving a felony sentence in a correctional institution

16 or facility at the time of the election.

17 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT.

18 (a) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney General

19 may, in a civil action, obtain such declaratory or injunctive

20 relief as is necessary to remedy a violation of this Act.

21 (b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—

22 (1) A person who is aggrieved by a violation of

23 this Act may provide written notice of the violation

24 to the chief election official of the State involved.
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1 (2) Except as provided in paragraph (3), if the

2 violation is not corrected within 90 days after receipt

3 of a notice under paragraph (1), or within 20 days

4 after receipt of the notice if the violation occurred

5 within 120 days before the date of an election for

6 Federal office, the aggrieved person may, in a civil

7 action obtain declaratory or injunctive relief with re8 spect to the violation.

9 (3) If the violation occurred within 30 days be10 fore the date of an election for Federal office, the

11 aggrieved person need not provide notice to the chief

12 election official of the State under paragraph (1) be13 fore bringing a civil action to obtain declaratory or

14 injunctive relief with respect to the violation.

15 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

16 For purposes of this Act—

17 (1) the term ‘‘correctional institution or facil18 ity’’ means any prison, penitentiary, jail, or other in19 stitution or facility for the confinement of individ20 uals convicted of criminal offenses, whether publicly

21 or privately operated, except that such term does not

22 include any residential community treatment center

23 (or similar public or private facility);

24 (2) the term ‘‘election’’ means—
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1 (A) a general, special, primary, or runoff

2 election;

3 (B) a convention or caucus of a political

4 party held to nominate a candidate;

5 (C) a primary election held for the selec6 tion of delegates to a national nominating con7 vention of a political party; or

8 (D) a primary election held for the expres9 sion of a preference for the nomination of per10 sons for election to the office of President; and

11 (3) the term ‘‘Federal office’’ means the office

12 of President or Vice President of the United States,

13 or of Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or

14 Resident Commissioner to, the Congress of the

15 United States.

16 SEC. 6. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.

17 (a) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit

18 the States enacting any State law which affords the right

19 to vote in any election for Federal office on terms less

20 restrictive than those established by this Act.

21 (b) The rights and remedies established by this Act

22 are in addition to all other rights and remedies provided

23 by law, and neither rights and remedies established by this

24 Act shall supersede, restrict, or limit the application of

25 the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.)
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1 or the National Voter Registration Act (42 U.S.C. 1973–

2 gg).

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