II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1516 

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

from incarceration. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 24, 2009 

Mr. FEINGOLD (for himself, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. CARDIN) 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 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 ‘‘Democracy Restoration 

5 Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) The right to vote is the most basic constitu9 tive act of citizenship. Regaining the right to vote 


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1 reintegrates offenders into free society, helping to 

2 enhance public safety. 

3 (2) Article I, section 4 of the Constitution of 

4 the United States grants Congress ultimate super5 visory power over Federal elections, an authority 

6 which has repeatedly been upheld by the Supreme 

7 Court. 

8 (3) Basic constitutional principles of fairness 

9 and equal protection require an equal opportunity 

10 for Americans to vote in Federal elections. The right 

11 to vote may not be abridged or denied by the United 

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

13 gender or previous condition of servitude. The 14th, 

14 15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th Amendments to the Con15 stitution empower Congress to enact measures to 

16 protect the right to vote in Federal elections. 

17 (4) There are three areas where discrepancies 

18 in State laws regarding felony convictions lead to 

19 unfairness in Federal elections— 

20 (A) there is no uniform standard for voting 

21 in Federal elections which leads to an unfair 

22 disparity and unequal participation in Federal 

23 elections based solely on where a person lives; 

24 (B) laws governing the restoration of vot25 ing rights after a felony conviction vary 


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1 throughout the country and persons in some 

2 States can easily regain their voting rights 

3 while in other States persons effectively lose 

4 their right to vote permanently; and 

5 (C) State disenfranchisement laws dis6 proportionately impact racial and ethnic minori7 ties. 

8 (5) Disenfranchisement results from varying 

9 State laws that restrict voting while under some 

10 form of criminal justice supervision or after the com11 pletion of a felony sentence in some States. Two 

12 States do not disenfranchise felons at all (Maine and 

13 Vermont). Forty-eight States and the District of Co14 lumbia have disenfranchisement laws that deprive 

15 convicted offenders of the right to vote while they 

16 are in prison. In 35 States, convicted offenders may 

17 not vote while they are on parole and 30 of these 

18 States disenfranchise felony probationers as well. In 

19 10 States, a conviction can result in lifetime dis20 enfranchisement. 

21 (6) An estimated 5,300,000 Americans, or 

22 about 1 in 41 adults, currently cannot vote as a re23 sult of a felony conviction. Nearly 4,000,000 (74 

24 percent) of the 5,300,000 disqualified voters are not 

25 in prison, but are on probation or parole, or are exVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:46 Jul 25, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1516.IS S1516

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1 offenders. Approximately 2,000,000 of those individ2 uals are individuals who have completed their entire 

3 sentence, including probation and parole, yet remain 

4 disenfranchised. 

5 (7) In those States that disenfranchise ex-of6 fenders, the right to vote can be regained in theory, 

7 but in practice this possibility is often granted in a 

8 nonuniform and potentially discriminatory manner. 

9 Offenders must either obtain a pardon or order from 

10 the Governor or action by the parole or pardon 

11 board, depending on the offense and State. Offend12 ers convicted of a Federal offense often have addi13 tional barriers to regaining voting rights. 

14 (8) State disenfranchisement laws dispropor15 tionately impact racial and ethnic minorities. Eight 

16 percent of the African-American population, or 

17 2,000,000 African-Americans, are disenfranchised. 

18 Given current rates of incarceration, approximately 

19 one in three of the next generation of African-Amer20 ican men will be disenfranchised at some point dur21 ing their lifetime. Hispanic citizens are also dis22 proportionately disenfranchised based upon their dis23 proportionate representation in the criminal justice 

24 system. 


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1 (9) Disenfranchising citizens who have been 

2 convicted of a felony offense and who are living and 

3 working in the community serves no compelling 

4 State interest and hinders their rehabilitation and 

5 reintegration into society. 

6 (10) State disenfranchisement laws can sup7 press electoral participation among eligible voters by 

8 discouraging voting among family and community 

9 members of disenfranchised persons. Future elec10 toral participation by the children of disenfranchised 

11 parents may be impacted as well. 

12 (11) The United States is the only Western de13 mocracy that permits the permanent denial of voting 

14 rights to individuals with felony convictions. 

15 SEC. 3. RIGHTS OF CITIZENS. 

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

17 United States to vote in any election for Federal office 

18 shall not be denied or abridged because that individual has 

19 been convicted of a criminal offense unless such individual 

20 is serving a felony sentence in a correctional institution 

21 or facility at the time of the election. 

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) IN GENERAL.—A person who is aggrieved 

3 by a violation of this Act may provide written notice 

4 of the violation to the chief election official of the 

5 State involved. 

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

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

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

9 within 20 days after receipt of the notice if the viola10 tion occurred within 120 days before the date of an 

11 election for Federal office, the aggrieved person 

12 may, in a civil action, obtain declaratory or injunc13 tive relief with respect to the violation. 

14 (3) EXCEPTION.—If the violation occurred 

15 within 30 days before the date of an election for 

16 Federal office, the aggrieved person need not provide 

17 notice to the chief election official of the State under 

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

19 declaratory or injunctive relief with respect to the 

20 violation. 

21 SEC. 5. NOTIFICATION OF RESTORATION OF VOTING 

22 RIGHTS. 

23 (a) STATE NOTIFICATION.— 

24 (1) NOTIFICATION.—On the date determined 

25 under paragraph (2), each State shall notify in writVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:46 Jul 25, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1516.IS S1516

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1 ing any individual who has been convicted of a 

2 criminal offense under the law of that State that 

3 such individual has the right to vote in an election 

4 for Federal office pursuant to the Democracy Res5 toration Act and may register to vote in any such 

6 election. 

7 (2) DATE OF NOTIFICATION.— 

8 (A) FELONY CONVICTION.—In the case of 

9 such an individual who has been convicted of a 

10 felony, the notification required under para11 graph (1) shall be given on the date on which 

12 the individual— 

13 (i) is sentenced to serve only a term 

14 of probation; or 

15 (ii) is released from the custody of 

16 that State (other than to the custody of 

17 another State or the Federal Government 

18 to serve a term of imprisonment for a fel19 ony conviction). 

20 (B) MISDEMEANOR CONVICTION.—In the 

21 case of such an individual who has been con22 victed of a misdemeanor, the notification re23 quired under paragraph (1) shall be given on 

24 the date on which such individual is sentenced 

25 by a State court. 


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1 (b) FEDERAL NOTIFICATION.— 

2 (1) NOTIFICATION.—On the date determined 

3 under paragraph (2), the Director of the Bureau of 

4 Prisons shall notify in writing any individual who 

5 has been convicted of a criminal offense under Fed6 eral law that such individual has the right to vote 

7 in an election for Federal office pursuant to the De8 mocracy Restoration Act and may register to vote in 

9 any such election. 

10 (2) DATE OF NOTIFICATION.— 

11 (A) FELONY CONVICTION.—In the case of 

12 such an individual who has been convicted of a 

13 felony, the notification required under para14 graph (1) shall be given on the date on which 

15 the individual— 

16 (i) is sentenced to serve only a term 

17 of probation by a court established by an 

18 Act of Congress; or 

19 (ii) is released from the custody of the 

20 Bureau of Prisons (other than to the cus21 tody of a State to serve a term of impris22 onment for a felony conviction). 

23 (B) MISDEMEANOR CONVICTION.—In the 

24 case of such an individual who has been con25 victed of a misdemeanor, the notification reVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:46 Jul 25, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1516.IS S1516

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1 quired under paragraph (1) shall be given on 

2 the date on which such individual is sentenced 

3 by a State court. 

4 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

5 For purposes of this Act: 

6 (1) CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION OR FACIL7 ITY.—The term ‘‘correctional institution or facility’’ 

8 means any prison, penitentiary, jail, or other institu9 tion or facility for the confinement of individuals 

10 convicted of criminal offenses, whether publicly or 

11 privately operated, except that such term does not 

12 include any residential community treatment center 

13 (or similar public or private facility). 

14 (2) ELECTION.—The term ‘‘election’’ means— 

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

16 election; 

17 (B) a convention or caucus of a political 

18 party held to nominate a candidate; 

19 (C) a primary election held for the selec20 tion of delegates to a national nominating con21 vention of a political party; or 

22 (D) a primary election held for the expres23 sion of a preference for the nomination of per24 sons for election to the office of President. 


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1 (3) FEDERAL OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Federal of2 fice’’ means the office of President or Vice President 

3 of the United States, or of Senator or Representa4 tive in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, 

5 the Congress of the United States. 

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

7 probation, imposed by a Federal, State, or local 

8 court, with or without a condition on the individual 

9 involved concerning— 

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

11 (B) the payment of damages by the indi12 vidual; 

13 (C) periodic reporting by the individual to 

14 an officer of the court; or 

15 (D) supervision of the individual by an of16 ficer of the court. 

17 SEC. 7. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS. 

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

19 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit the 

20 States from enacting any State law which affords the right 

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

22 restrictive than those established by this Act. 

23 (b) CERTAIN FEDERAL ACTS.—The rights and rem24 edies established by this Act are in addition to all other 

25 rights and remedies provided by law, and neither rights 


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1 and remedies established by this Act shall supersede, re2 strict, or limit the application of the Voting Rights Act 

3 of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.) or the National Voter 

4 Registration Act (42 U.S.C. 1973–gg). 

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 grant amounts unless that person has in effect a program 

10 under which each individual incarcerated in that person’s 

11 jurisdiction who is a citizen of the United States is noti12 fied, upon release from such incarceration, of that individ13 ual’s rights under section 3. 

14 SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

15 This Act shall apply to citizens of the United States 

16 voting in any election for Federal office held after the date 

17 of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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