I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8941 

To secure the Federal voting rights of persons when released from 

incarceration. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 10, 2020 

Mr. HALL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To secure the Federal voting rights of persons when 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. RIGHTS OF CITIZENS. 

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

5 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 unless such individual 

8 is serving a felony sentence in a correctional institution 

9 or facility at the time of the election. 


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1 SEC. 2. ENFORCEMENT. 

2 (a) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

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

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

5 (b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

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

7 by a violation of this Act may provide written notice 

8 of the violation to the chief election official of the 

9 State involved. 

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

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

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

13 within 20 days after receipt of the notice if the viola14 tion occurred within 120 days before the date of an 

15 election for Federal office, the aggrieved person 

16 may, in a civil action, obtain declaratory or injunc17 tive relief with respect to the violation. 

18 (3) EXCEPTION.—If the violation occurred 

19 within 30 days before the date of an election for 

20 Federal office, the aggrieved person need not provide 

21 notice to the chief election official of the State under 

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

23 declaratory or injunctive relief with respect to the 

24 violation. 


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1 SEC. 3. NOTIFICATION OF RESTORATION OF VOTING 

2 RIGHTS. 

3 (a) STATE NOTIFICATION.— 

4 (1) NOTIFICATION.—On the date determined 

5 under paragraph (2), each State shall notify in writ6 ing any individual who has been convicted of a 

7 criminal offense under the law of that State that 

8 such individual has the right to vote in an election 

9 for Federal office pursuant to the Democracy Res10 toration Act of 2020 and may register to vote in any 

11 such election. 

12 (2) DATE OF NOTIFICATION.— 

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

14 such an individual who has been convicted of a 

15 felony, the notification required under para16 graph (1) shall be given on the date on which 

17 the individual— 

18 (i) is sentenced to serve only a term 

19 of probation; or 

20 (ii) is released from the custody of 

21 that State (other than to the custody of 

22 another State or the Federal Government 

23 to serve a term of imprisonment for a fel24 ony conviction). 

25 (B) MISDEMEANOR CONVICTION.—In the 

26 case of such an individual who has been conVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Dec 26, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8941.IH H8941

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1 victed of a misdemeanor, the notification re2 quired under paragraph (1) shall be given on 

3 the date on which such individual is sentenced 

4 by a State court. 

5 (b) FEDERAL NOTIFICATION.— 

6 (1) NOTIFICATION.—Any individual who has 

7 been convicted of a criminal offense under Federal 

8 law shall be notified in accordance with paragraph 

9 (2) that such individual has the right to vote in an 

10 election for Federal office pursuant to the Democ11 racy Restoration Act of 2020 and may register to 

12 vote in any such election. 

13 (2) DATE OF NOTIFICATION.— 

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

15 such an individual who has been convicted of a 

16 felony, the notification required under para17 graph (1) shall be given— 

18 (i) in the case of an individual who is 

19 sentenced to serve only a term of proba20 tion, by the Assistant Director for the Of21 fice of Probation and Pretrial Services of 

22 the Administrative Office of the United 

23 States Courts on the date on which the in24 dividual is sentenced; or 


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1 (ii) in the case of any individual com2 mitted to the custody of the Bureau of 

3 Prisons, by the Director of the Bureau of 

4 Prisons, during the period beginning on 

5 the date that is 6 months before such indi6 vidual is released and ending on the date 

7 such individual is released from the cus8 tody of the Bureau of Prisons. 

9 (B) MISDEMEANOR CONVICTION.—In the 

10 case of such an individual who has been con11 victed of a misdemeanor, the notification re12 quired under paragraph (1) shall be given on 

13 the date on which such individual is sentenced 

14 by a court established by an Act of Congress. 

15 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

16 For purposes of this Act: 

17 (1) CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION OR FACIL18 ITY.—The term ‘‘correctional institution or facility’’ 

19 means any prison, penitentiary, jail, or other institu20 tion or facility for the confinement of individuals 

21 convicted of criminal offenses, whether publicly or 

22 privately operated, except that such term does not 

23 include any residential community treatment center 

24 (or similar public or private facility). 

25 (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, State, or local 

18 court, with or without a condition on the individual 

19 involved 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. 5. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS. 

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

5 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit the 

6 States from enacting any State law which affords the right 

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

8 restrictive 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. 6. FEDERAL PRISON FUNDS. 

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

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

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

20 funds unless that person has in effect a program under 

21 which each individual incarcerated in that person’s juris22 diction who is a citizen of the United States is notified, 

23 upon release from such incarceration, of that individual’s 

24 rights under section 1. 


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1 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 This Act shall apply to citizens of the United States 

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

4 of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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