I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5158

To secure the Federal voting rights of a person upon the unconditional

release of that person from prison and the completion of sentence, including parole.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 12, 2000

Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD introduced the following bill; which was referred

to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To secure the Federal voting rights of a person upon the

unconditional release of that person from prison and

the completion of sentence, including parole.

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 ‘‘Second Chance Voting

5 Rights Act of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress makes the following findings:
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1 (1) The right to vote is the most fundamental

2 act performed by citizens in our great representative

3 democracy.

4 (2) Citizen participation in local, State, and

5 Federal elections is the primary means to assure

6 representation of many constituent groups in the po7 litical process.

8 (3) More than 500,000 Americans who were

9 convicted of felony crimes have served their entire

10 sentence and stand free and clear of incarceration

11 and parole.

12 (4) It is the civic duty of every citizen of the

13 United States to vote in any election in order to

14 guarantee full and fair representation of all inter15 ests.

16 (5) Allowing ex-offenders to vote restores them

17 to their role as responsible citizens in this great

18 country whose greatness is strengthened by the civic

19 rehabilitation and participation of all nonvoting citi20 zens.

21 (6) The States of Alaska, Arkansas, California,

22 Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana,

23 Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan,

24 Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire,

25 New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Or-
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1 egon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina,

2 South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, and

3 the District of Columbia, restore the right to vote

4 automatically upon the completion of sentence, in5 cluding parole.

6 (7) The United States should ensure that the

7 Federal voting rights of a person are restored upon

8 the unconditional release of that person from prison

9 and the completion of sentence, including parole.

10 SEC. 3. FEDERAL VOTING RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUALS WHO

11 HAVE BEEN CONVICTED OF A CRIMINAL OF12 FENSE.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The right of an individual who is

14 a citizen of the United States to vote in any election for

15 Federal office shall not be denied or abridged because that

16 individual has been convicted of a criminal offense.

17 (b) APPLICABILITY.—Subsection (a) shall apply to an

18 individual convicted of a criminal offense upon the uncon19 ditional release of that individual from incarceration for

20 that offense and the completion of sentence for that of21 fense, including parole.

22 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT.

23 (a) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney General

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

25 relief as is necessary to remedy a violation of this Act.
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1 (b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—

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

3 this Act may provide written notice of the violation

4 to the chief election official of the State involved.

5 (2) Except as provided in paragraph (3), if the

6 violation is not corrected within 90 days after receipt

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

8 after receipt of the notice if the violation occurred

9 within 120 days before the date of an election for

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

11 action obtain declaratory or injunctive relief with re12 spect to the violation.

13 (3) If the violation occurred within 30 days be14 fore the date of an election for Federal office, the

15 aggrieved person need not provide notice to the chief

16 election official of the State under paragraph (1) be17 fore bringing a civil action to obtain declaratory or

18 injunctive relief with respect to the violation.

19 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

20 For purposes of this Act—

21 (1) the term ‘‘election’’ means—

22 (A) a general, special, primary, or runoff

23 election;

24 (B) a convention or caucus of a political

25 party held to nominate a candidate;
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1 (C) a primary election held for the selec2 tion of delegates to a national nominating con3 vention of a political party; or

4 (D) a primary election held for the expres5 sion of a preference for the nomination of per6 sons for election to the office of President; and

7 (2) the term ‘‘Federal office’’ means the office

8 of President or Vice President of the United States,

9 or of Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or

10 Resident Commissioner to, the Congress of the

11 United States.

12 SEC. 6. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.

13 (a) STATE LAWS.—Nothing in this Act shall be con14 strued to prohibit the States enacting any State law which

15 affords the right to vote in any election for Federal office

16 on terms less restrictive than those established by this Act.

17 (b) FEDERAL LAWS.—The rights and remedies es18 tablished by this Act are in addition to all other rights

19 and remedies provided by law, and neither rights and rem20 edies established by this Act shall supersede, restrict, or

21 limit the application of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42

22 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.) or the National Voter Registration

23 Act (42 U.S.C. 1973–gg).

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