II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4217 

To secure the Federal voting rights of persons when released from 

incarceration under the First Step Act. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 30, 2024 

Ms. BUTLER (for herself, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. WELCH, Mr. 

WYDEN, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. COONS, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Ms. SMITH, Mr. 

MARKEY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To secure the Federal voting rights of persons when released 

from incarceration under the First Step Act. 

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 Next Step Home Act. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) The recidivism rates of beneficiaries of the 

8 First Step Act (Public Law 115–391; 132 Stat. 

9 5194) is only 12.4 percent compared to the overall 


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1 recidivism rate of 43 percent for prisoners in prisons 

2 operated by the Bureau of Prisons. 

3 (2) The success of most individuals released 

4 under the First Step Act (Public Law 115–391; 132 

5 Stat. 5194) demonstrates that reducing the popu6 lation in overcrowded Federal prisons can be done 

7 safely and effectively. 

8 (3) Extending the Federal franchise to individ9 uals with criminal convictions will further reduce re10 cidivism rates. 

11 (4) Basic constitutional principles of fairness 

12 and equal protection require an equal opportunity 

13 for citizens of the United States to vote in Federal 

14 elections. 

15 (5) Section 4 of article I of the Constitution of 

16 the United States grants Congress ultimate super17 visory power over Federal elections, an authority 

18 which has repeatedly been upheld by the Supreme 

19 Court of the United States. 

20 (6) The Eighth Amendment to the Constitution 

21 of the United States, which prohibits excessive bail, 

22 the imposition of excessive fines, and the infliction of 

23 cruel and unusual punishments, also moves Congress 

24 to act when lifetime felony voting bans are used to 

25 mistreat those with felony convictions. 


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1 (7) The 13th, 14th, 15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th 

2 amendments to the Constitution of the United 

3 States empower Congress to enact measures that 

4 further protect the right to vote in Federal elections, 

5 and codify the principle that the right to vote may 

6 not be abridged or denied by the United States or 

7 by any State on account of race, color, gender, or 

8 previous condition of servitude. 

9 (8) Congress also has independent authority 

10 under the 14th, 15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th amend11 ments to the Constitution of the United States to 

12 ensure elections are conducted without unlawful dis13 crimination. Under these amendments, Congress has 

14 the duty to act when incarcerated individuals are 

15 treated as second-class citizens through the denial of 

16 the vote. 

17 (9) The Reconstruction Amendments specifi18 cally, which include the 13th, 14th, and 15th 

19 amendments to the Constitution of the United 

20 States, require full legal and political equality for 

21 former slaves and their progeny, many of whom are 

22 individuals with criminal convictions today. 

23 (10) The 14th Amendment to the Constitution 

24 of the United States stands out as perhaps the most 

25 important amendment given the Equal Protection 


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1 Clause in section 1 has been the basis on which Fed2 eral courts have been able to strike down laws and 

3 practices that intentionally discriminate on the basis 

4 of race. The rate at which Black men are imprisoned 

5 in Federal facilities in the United States raises 

6 Equal Protection concerns given that their imprison7 ment remains many times that of their White coun8 terparts and more than double that of the Hispanic 

9 male population, showing huge racial discrepancies 

10 in the criminal justice system. 

11 (11) Additionally, according to scholars such as 

12 Henry Chambers, ‘‘A reasonably robust vision of the 

13 Fifteenth Amendment focuses on the political equal14 ity that should have been the culmination of the Re15 construction Amendments. That vision requires that 

16 rules and procedures that limit the political equality 

17 of minority groups be justified as necessary for the 

18 functioning of the electoral system, not that they 

19 merely appear colorblind. Such a reading of the Fif20 teenth Amendment may appear to require affirma21 tive action on the part of States to guarantee minor22 ity representation and might appear to conflict with 

23 an equally robust reading of the Fourteenth Amend24 ment and its supposed colorblind principle. If this is 

25 the case, so be it.’’. 


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1 (12) The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Public Law 

2 88–352; 78 Stat. 241) and the Voting Rights Act 

3 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.) also extend the au4 thority to Congress to continue to exercise its con5 stitutional authority in this space as appropriate. 

6 (13) Congress is also moved to act given the 

7 discrepancies in State laws regarding criminal con8 victions leading to unfairness in Federal elections. 

9 As of 2024, 48 States have either temporarily or 

10 permanently banned individuals with felony convic11 tions from voting while the District of Columbia, the 

12 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and 2 States, Maine 

13 and Vermont, ensure these individuals retain the 

14 franchise even while they are incarcerated. 

15 (14) In 23 States, individuals with felony con16 victions lose their access to the franchise only while 

17 incarcerated and get their right to vote ‘‘automati18 cally restored’’ once their prison sentence is com19 pleted. These States are California, Colorado, Con20 necticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massa21 chusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, 

22 New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, New Mex23 ico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, 

24 Rhode Island, Utah, and Washington. 


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1 (15) The remaining 25 States have voting laws 

2 on the books that are less friendly towards individ3 uals with prior felony convictions. In 14 States, indi4 viduals with felony convictions typically have their 

5 voting rights restored after parole or probation is 

6 completed. These States are Alaska, Arkansas, Geor7 gia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, North 

8 Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, 

9 Texas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. In the remain10 ing 11 States, individuals with felony convictions 

11 lose their voting rights indefinitely for some crimes 

12 or require the pardon of a Governor to get their ac13 cess to the franchise restored. These States are Ala14 bama, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, 

15 Mississippi, Nebraska, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wy16 oming. 

17 (16) Despite their disenfranchisement, individ18 uals with felony convictions continue to be counted 

19 as part of State populations for representation pur20 poses in Congress and for the Electoral College. Ac21 cording to author Michelle Alexander in The New 

22 Jim Crow, ‘‘[T]he Census Bureau counts imprisoned 

23 individuals as residents of the jurisdiction in which 

24 they are incarcerated [through the usual-residence 

25 rule].’’. 


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1 (17) Disenfranchising citizens who have been 

2 convicted of a criminal offense and who are living 

3 and working in the community serves no compelling 

4 State interest and hinders their rehabilitation and 

5 reintegration into society. 

6 (18) Finally, the right to vote is the most basic 

7 constitutive act of citizenship. Restoring voting 

8 rights in Federal elections to individuals with felony 

9 convictions will better integrate these individuals 

10 into free society, improve public safety, strengthen 

11 the overall reentry process in the United States, and 

12 move the United States closer to realizing the reha13 bilitative goals of its broken carceral system. 

14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

15 For purposes of this Act: 

16 (1) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘covered 

17 individual’’ means an individual who— 

18 (A) completes serving a sentence for a con19 viction under a Federal criminal law on or after 

20 December 21, 2018; and 

21 (B)(i) has time credits applied toward time 

22 in prerelease custody or supervised release pur23 suant to section 3632(d)(4)(C) of title 18, 

24 United States Code; 


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1 (ii) on or after the effective date of the 

2 amendments made by section 102(b) of the 

3 First Step Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–391; 

4 132 Stat. 5210), receives credit toward the 

5 service of the sentence of the individual under 

6 section 3624(b)(1) of title 18, United States 

7 Code; 

8 (iii) is placed in prerelease custody or su9 pervised release under section 3624(g) of title 

10 18, United States Code; 

11 (iv) on or after December 21, 2018— 

12 (I) commits a violation of section 

13 401(b)(1) of the Controlled Substances Act 

14 (21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)) or section 1010(b) 

15 of the Controlled Substances Import and 

16 Export Act (21 U.S.C. 906(b)) after a 

17 prior conviction for a serious drug felony 

18 or serious violent felony, as those terms 

19 are defined in section 102 of the Con20 trolled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802); 

21 and 

22 (II) is sentenced for a violation de23 scribed in subclause (I); 

24 (v) is sentenced pursuant to section 

25 3553(f) of title 18, United States Code, for a 


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1 conviction entered on or after December 21, 

2 2018; 

3 (vi) is sentenced pursuant to section 

4 924(c)(1)(C) of title 18, United States Code, 

5 for an offense— 

6 (I) committed before December 21, 

7 2018; and 

8 (II) for which a sentence was not im9 posed before December 21, 2018; 

10 (vii) receives a reduced sentence under sec11 tion 404 of the First Step Act of 2018 (Public 

12 Law 115–391; 132 Stat. 5222); 

13 (viii)(I) is an eligible elderly offender, as 

14 defined in section 231(g)(5) of the Second 

15 Chance Act of 2007 (34 U.S.C. 60541(g)(5)); 

16 and 

17 (II) is placed in home detention pursuant 

18 to section 231(g) of the Second Chance Act of 

19 2007 (34 U.S.C. 60541(g)); or 

20 (ix) receives a reduced term of imprison21 ment upon motion of the individual under sec22 tion 3582(c)(1)(A) of title 18, United States 

23 Code. 

24 (2) ELECTION.—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. 

11 (3) FEDERAL OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Federal of12 fice’’ means the office of President or Vice President 

13 of the United States, or of Senator or Representa14 tive in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, 

15 the Congress of the United States. 

16 (4) PROBATION.—The term ‘‘probation’’ means 

17 probation, imposed by a Federal court with or with18 out a condition on the covered individual involved 

19 concerning— 

20 (A) the individual’s freedom of movement; 

21 (B) the payment of damages by the indi22 vidual; 

23 (C) periodic reporting by the individual to 

24 an officer of the court; or 


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1 (D) supervision of the individual by an of2 ficer of the court. 

3 SEC. 4. RIGHTS OF CITIZENS. 

4 The right of a covered individual who is a citizen of 

5 the United States to vote in any election for Federal office 

6 shall not be denied or abridged because that individual has 

7 been convicted of a criminal offense. 

8 SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT. 

9 (a) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

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

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

12 (b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—A person who is aggrieved 

14 by a violation of this Act may provide written notice 

15 of the violation to the chief election official of the 

16 State involved. 

17 (2) RELIEF.—Except as provided in paragraph 

18 (3), if the violation is not corrected within 90 days 

19 after receipt of a notice under paragraph (1), or 

20 within 20 days after receipt of the notice if the viola21 tion occurred within 120 days before the date of an 

22 election for Federal office, the aggrieved person 

23 may, in a civil action, obtain declaratory or injunc24 tive relief with respect to the violation. 


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1 (3) EXCEPTION.—If the violation occurred 

2 within 30 days before the date of an election for 

3 Federal office, the aggrieved person need not provide 

4 notice to the chief election official of the State under 

5 paragraph (1) before bringing a civil action to obtain 

6 declaratory or injunctive relief with respect to the 

7 violation. 

8 SEC. 6. NOTIFICATION OF RESTORATION OF VOTING 

9 RIGHTS. 

10 (a) NOTIFICATION.—Any covered individual who has 

11 been convicted of a criminal offense under Federal law 

12 shall be notified in accordance with subsection (b) that 

13 such individual has the right to vote in an election for Fed14 eral office pursuant to the Next Step Home Act and may 

15 register to vote in any such election. 

16 (b) DATE OF NOTIFICATION.— 

17 (1) FELONY CONVICTION.—In the case of such 

18 an covered individual who has been convicted of a 

19 felony, the notification required under subsection (a) 

20 shall be given— 

21 (A) in the case of an covered individual 

22 who is sentenced to serve only a term of proba23 tion, by the Assistant Director for the Office of 

24 Probation and Pretrial Services of the Adminis25 trative Office of the United States Courts on 


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1 the date on which the individual is sentenced; 

2 or 

3 (B) in the case of any covered individual 

4 committed to the custody of the Bureau of Pris5 ons, by the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, 

6 during the period beginning on the date that is 

7 6 months before such individual is released and 

8 ending on the date such individual is released 

9 from the custody of the Bureau of Prisons. 

10 (2) MISDEMEANOR CONVICTION.—In the case 

11 of such a covered individual who has been convicted 

12 of a misdemeanor, the notification required under 

13 subsection (a) shall be given on the date on which 

14 such individual is sentenced by a court established 

15 by an Act of Congress. 

16 SEC. 7. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS. 

17 (a) STATE LAWS RELATING TO VOTING RIGHTS.— 

18 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit any 

19 State from enacting any State law which affords the right 

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

21 restrictive than those established by this Act. 

22 (b) CERTAIN FEDERAL ACTS.—The rights and rem23 edies established by this Act are in addition to all other 

24 rights and remedies provided by law, and neither rights 

25 and remedies established by this Act shall supersede, reVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:48 May 21, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4217.IS S4217

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1 strict, or limit the application of the Voting Rights Act 

2 of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.), the National Voter 

3 Registration Act (52 U.S.C. 20501), or the Help America 

4 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20901 et seq.). 

5 SEC. 8. FEDERAL PRISON FUNDS. 

6 No State, unit of local government, or other person 

7 may receive or use, to construct or otherwise improve a 

8 prison, jail, or other place of incarceration, any Federal 

9 funds unless that State, unit of local government, or per10 son— 

11 (1) is in compliance with section 4; and 

12 (2) has in effect a program under which each 

13 covered individual incarcerated in that person’s ju14 risdiction who is a citizen of the United States is no15 tified, upon release from such incarceration, of that 

16 individual’s rights under section 4. 

17 SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

18 This Act shall apply to citizens of the United States 

19 voting in any election for Federal office held on or after 

20 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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