I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8249 

To prohibit the denial of the right to vote in elections for public office 

on the grounds of owing fines, fees, or restitution relating to a conviction 

of a criminal offense. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 14, 2020 

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ (for herself, Ms. TLAIB, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. DEUTCH, 

Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. 

NORTON, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. COOPER, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. 

OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. RUSH, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. EVANS, and 

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

the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To prohibit the denial of the right to vote in elections for 

public office on the grounds of owing fines, fees, or 

restitution relating to a conviction of a criminal offense. 

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 ‘‘Removing Monetary 

5 Barriers to Voting Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) The 24th amendment to the Constitution of 

2 the United States prohibits Congress and States 

3 conditioning the right to vote in Federal elections on 

4 payment of any poll tax or any other tax, and this 

5 prohibition was extended to States under the 14th 

6 amendment in 1964 in Harper v. Virginia Board of 

7 Elections. 

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

10 reintegrates individuals with criminal convictions 

11 into free society, helping to enhance public safety. 

12 (3) An estimated 6,100,000 citizens of the 

13 United States, or about 1 in 40 adults in the United 

14 States, currently cannot vote as a result of a felony 

15 conviction. As of 2016, an estimated 6,100,000 citi16 zens, or about 1 in 40 adults in the United States, 

17 could not vote as a result of a felony convictions. 

18 (4) At least 8 States explicitly prohibit individ19 uals who owe money associated with their criminal 

20 convictions from voting. At least 22 other States 

21 have laws that can implicitly prohibit individuals 

22 from voting because of unpaid legal debts, either 

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1 ment of fines, fees or restitution, or clemency re2 strictions based on unpaid legal debts. 

3 (5) Across the Nation, approximately 10 million 

4 individuals owe a collective $50 billion in debt re5 lated to the criminal justice system, and findings 

6 from 14 States show that families on average owe 

7 $13,600 in fees and fines. 

8 (6) State disenfranchisement laws additionally 

9 disproportionately impact racial and ethnic minori10 ties. 

11 (7) The right to vote additionally may not be 

12 abridged or denied by the United States or by any 

13 State on account of race, color, gender, or previous 

14 condition of servitude. The 13th, 14th, 15th, 19th, 

15 and 26th Amendments to the Constitution of the 

16 United States empower Congress to enact measures 

17 to protect the right to vote. 

18 (8) Continuing to disenfranchise individuals 

19 who have outstanding fees, fines, and restitution and 

20 who are living and working in the community serves 

21 no State interest and hinders their rehabilitation 

22 and reintegration into society. 


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1 SEC. 3. PROHIBITING DENIAL OF RIGHT TO VOTE ON 

2 GROUNDS OF OWING AMOUNTS RELATING TO 

3 CONVICTION OF CRIMINAL OFFENSE. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The right of an individual to vote 

5 in any election for public office shall not be denied or 

6 abridged because that individual owes an outstanding fine, 

7 fee, or restitution relating to conviction of a criminal of8 fense. 

9 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The right of an individual to 

10 vote in any election under subsection (a) shall apply not11 withstanding if such individual is on parole, probation, or 

12 any other form of supervision solely related to an out13 standing fine, fee, or restitution. 

14 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT. 

15 (a) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

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

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

18 (b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

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

20 by a violation of this Act may provide written notice 

21 of the violation to the chief election official of the 

22 State involved. 

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

24 (4), if the violation is not corrected within 90 days 

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

26 within 20 days after receipt of the notice if the violaVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:34 Sep 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8249.IH H8249

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1 tion occurred within 120 days before the date of an 

2 election for public office, the aggrieved person may, 

3 in a civil action, obtain declaratory or injunctive re4 lief with respect to the violation. 

5 (3) ATTORNEY’S FEES.—In any action or pro6 ceeding to enforce this Act against any governmental 

7 body, the court may allow a prevailing plaintiff, 

8 other than the United States, reasonable attorney’s 

9 fees as part of the costs, and may include expert 

10 fees as part of the attorney’s fee. 

11 (4) EXCEPTION.—If the violation occurred 

12 within 60 days before the date of an election for 

13 public office, the aggrieved person need not provide 

14 notice to the chief election official of the State under 

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

16 declaratory or injunctive relief with respect to the 

17 violation. 

18 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

19 For purposes of this Act: 

20 (1) CHIEF ELECTION OFFICIAL.—The term 

21 ‘‘chief election official’’ means, with respect to a 

22 State, the individual designated by the State under 

23 section 10 of the National Voter Registration Act of 

24 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20509) to be responsible for coordi25 nation of the State’s responsibilities under such Act 


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

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

3 election for public office; 

4 (B) a convention or caucus of a political 

5 party held to nominate a candidate for public 

6 office; 

7 (C) a primary election held for the selec8 tion of delegates to a national nominating con9 vention of a political party; or 

10 (D) a primary election held for the expres11 sion of a preference for the nomination of per12 sons for election to the office of President. 

13 (3) FEE.—The term ‘‘fee’’ means any sur14 charge, court cost, administrative fee, or any mone15 tary amount imposed to cover the costs of the judi16 cial system or to generate revenue. 

17 (4) FINE.—The term ‘‘fine’’ means any mone18 tary penalty imposed by a court or other entity as 

19 punishment for conviction of a crime. 

20 (5) RESTITUTION.—The term ‘‘restitution’’ 

21 means any monetary sanction imposed by a court to 

22 compensate for actual losses resulting from a crime. 

23 (6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

24 the several States, the District of Columbia, the 

25 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, 


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1 Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, and the 

2 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

3 SEC. 6. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS. 

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

5 Nothing in this Act may be construed to prohibit a States 

6 from enacting any State law which affords the right to 

7 vote in any election for public office on terms less restric8 tive than those established by this Act. 

9 (b) CERTAIN FEDERAL ACTS.—The rights and rem10 edies established by this Act are in addition to all other 

11 rights and remedies provided by law, and neither rights 

12 and remedies established by this Act shall supersede, re13 strict, or limit the application of the Voting Rights Act 

14 of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.) or the National Voter 

15 Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.). 

16 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

17 This Act shall apply with respect to individuals voting 

18 in any election for public office held after the date of the 

19 enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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