I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2212 

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

from incarceration. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 16, 2011 

Mr. CONYERS 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 ‘‘Democracy Restoration 

5 Act of 2011’’. 

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: (A) There is no uni20 form standard for voting in Federal elections which 

21 leads to an unfair disparity and unequal participa22 tion in Federal elections based solely on where a per23 son lives; (B) laws governing the restoration of vot24 ing rights after a felony conviction vary throughout 

25 the country and persons in some States can easily 


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1 regain their voting rights while in other States per2 sons effectively lose their right to vote permanently; 

3 and (C) State disenfranchisement laws dispropor4 tionately impact racial and ethnic minorities. 

5 (5) Disenfranchisement results from varying 

6 State laws that restrict voting while under some 

7 form of criminal justice supervision or after the com8 pletion of a felony sentence in some States. Two 

9 States do not disenfranchise felons at all (Maine and 

10 Vermont). Forty-eight States and the District of Co11 lumbia have disenfranchisement laws that deprive 

12 convicted offenders of the right to vote while they 

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

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

15 States disenfranchise felony probationers as well. In 

16 10 States, a conviction can result in lifetime dis17 enfranchisement. 

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

19 about 1 in 41 adults, currently cannot vote as a re20 sult of a felony conviction. Nearly 4,000,000 (74 

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

22 in prison, but are on probation or parole, or are ex23 offenders. Approximately 2,000,000 of those individ24 uals are individuals who have completed their entire 


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1 sentence, including probation and parole, yet remain 

2 disenfranchised. 

3 (7) 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 granted in a 

6 nonuniform and potentially discriminatory manner. 

7 Offenders must either obtain a pardon or order from 

8 the Governor or action by the parole or pardon 

9 board, depending on the offense and State. Offend10 ers convicted of a Federal offense often have addi11 tional barriers to regaining voting rights. 

12 (8) State disenfranchisement laws dispropor13 tionately impact racial and ethnic minorities. Eight 

14 percent of the African-American population, or 

15 2,000,000 African-Americans, are disenfranchised. 

16 Given current rates of incarceration, approximately 

17 one in three of the next generation of African-Amer18 ican men will be disenfranchised at some point dur19 ing their lifetime. Hispanic citizens are also dis20 proportionately disenfranchised based upon their dis21 proportionate representation in the criminal justice 

22 system. 

23 (9) Disenfranchising citizens who have been 

24 convicted of a felony offense and who are living and 

25 working in the community serves no compelling 


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1 State interest and hinders their rehabilitation and 

2 reintegration into society. 

3 (10) State disenfranchisement laws can sup4 press electoral participation among eligible voters by 

5 discouraging voting among family and community 

6 members of disenfranchised persons. Future elec7 toral participation by the children of disenfranchised 

8 parents may be impacted as well. 

9 (11) The United States is the only Western de10 mocracy that permits the permanent denial of voting 

11 rights to individuals with felony convictions. 

12 SEC. 3. RIGHTS OF CITIZENS. 

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

14 United States to vote in any election for Federal office 

15 shall not be denied or abridged because that individual has 

16 been convicted of a criminal offense unless such individual 

17 is serving a felony sentence in a correctional institution 

18 or facility at the time of the election. 

19 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT. 

20 (a) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

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

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

23 (b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 


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

2 this Act may provide written notice of the violation 

3 to the chief election official of the State involved. 

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

5 violation is not corrected within 90 days after receipt 

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

7 after receipt of the notice if the violation occurred 

8 within 120 days before the date of an election for 

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

10 action, obtain declaratory or injunctive relief with re11 spect to the violation. 

12 (3) If the violation occurred within 30 days be13 fore the date of an election for Federal office, the 

14 aggrieved person need not provide notice to the chief 

15 election official of the State under paragraph (1) be16 fore bringing a civil action to obtain declaratory or 

17 injunctive relief with respect to the violation. 

18 SEC. 5. NOTIFICATION OF RESTORATION OF VOTING 

19 RIGHTS. 

20 (a) STATE NOTIFICATION.— 

21 (1) NOTIFICATION.—On the date determined 

22 under paragraph (2), each State shall notify in writ23 ing any individual who has been convicted of a 

24 criminal offense under the law of that State that 

25 such individual has the right to vote in an election 


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1 for Federal office pursuant to the Democracy Res2 toration Act and may register to vote in any such 

3 election. 

4 (2) DATE OF NOTIFICATION.— 

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

6 such an individual who has been convicted of a 

7 felony, the notification required under para8 graph (1) shall be given on the date on which 

9 the individual— 

10 (i) is sentenced to serve only a term 

11 of probation; or 

12 (ii) is released from the custody of 

13 that State (other than to the custody of 

14 another State or the Federal Government 

15 to serve a term of imprisonment for a fel16 ony conviction). 

17 (B) MISDEMEANOR CONVICTION.—In the 

18 case of such an individual who has been con19 victed of a misdemeanor, the notification re20 quired under paragraph (1) shall be given on 

21 the date on which such individual is sentenced 

22 by a State court. 

23 (b) FEDERAL NOTIFICATION.— 

24 (1) NOTIFICATION.—On the date determined 

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


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1 Prisons shall notify in writing any individual who 

2 has been convicted of a criminal offense under Fed3 eral law that such individual has the right to vote 

4 in an election for Federal office pursuant to the De5 mocracy Restoration Act and may register to vote in 

6 any such 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 by a court established by an 

15 Act of Congress; or 

16 (ii) is released from the custody of the 

17 Bureau of Prisons (other than to the cus18 tody of a State to serve a term of impris19 onment for a felony 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 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

2 For purposes of this Act: 

3 (1) CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION OR FACIL4 ITY.—The term ‘‘correctional institution or facility’’ 

5 means any prison, penitentiary, jail, or other institu6 tion or facility for the confinement of individuals 

7 convicted of criminal offenses, whether publicly or 

8 privately operated, except that such term does not 

9 include any residential community treatment center 

10 (or similar public or private facility). 

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

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

13 election; 

14 (B) a convention or caucus of a political 

15 party held to nominate a candidate; 

16 (C) a primary election held for the selec17 tion of delegates to a national nominating con18 vention of a political party; or 

19 (D) a primary election held for the expres20 sion of a preference for the nomination of per21 sons for election to the office of President. 

22 (3) FEDERAL OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Federal of23 fice’’ means the office of President or Vice President 

24 of the United States, or of Senator or Representa25 tive in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, 

26 the Congress of the United States. 


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

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

3 court, with or without a condition on the individual 

4 involved concerning— 

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

6 (B) the payment of damages by the indi7 vidual; 

8 (C) periodic reporting by the individual to 

9 an officer of the court; or 

10 (D) supervision of the individual by an of11 ficer of the court. 

12 SEC. 7. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS. 

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

14 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit the 

15 States from enacting any State law which affords the right 

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

17 restrictive than those established by this Act. 

18 (b) CERTAIN FEDERAL ACTS.—The rights and rem19 edies established by this Act are in addition to all other 

20 rights and remedies provided by law, and neither rights 

21 and remedies established by this Act shall supersede, re22 strict, or limit the application of the Voting Rights Act 

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

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


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1 SEC. 8. FEDERAL PRISON FUNDS. 

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

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

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

5 grant amounts unless that person has in effect a program 

6 under which each individual incarcerated in that person’s 

7 jurisdiction who is a citizen of the United States is noti8 fied, upon release from such incarceration, of that individ9 ual’s rights under section 3. 

10 SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

11 This Act shall apply to citizens of the United States 

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

13 of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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