I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 59 

To secure the Federal voting rights of certain qualified ex-offenders who 

have served their sentences. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 6, 2009 

Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To secure the Federal voting rights of certain qualified exoffenders who have served their sentences. 

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 ‘‘Ex-Offenders Voting 

5 Rights Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find8 ings: 

9 (1) The right to vote is the most basic constitu10 tive act of citizenship and regaining the right to vote 


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1 reintegrates offenders into free society. The right to 

2 vote may not be abridged or denied by the United 

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

4 gender, or previous condition of servitude. Basic con5 stitutional principles of fairness and equal protection 

6 require an equal opportunity for United States citi7 zens to vote in Federal elections. 

8 (2) Since the founding of the Nation, most 

9 States have enacted laws disenfranchising convicted 

10 felons and ex-felons. In the last 30 years, due to the 

11 dramatic expansion of the criminal justice system, 

12 these laws have significantly affected the political 

13 voice of many American communities. The momen14 tum toward reform of these policies has been based 

15 on a reconsideration of their wisdom in meeting le16 gitimate correctional objectives and the interests of 

17 full democratic participation. Forty-eight States and 

18 the District of Columbia prohibit inmates from vot19 ing while incarcerated for a felony offense. 

20 (3) Congress has ultimate supervisory power 

21 over Federal elections, an authority that has repeat22 edly been upheld by the Supreme Court. 

23 (4) Although State laws determine the quali24 fications for voting in Federal elections, Congress 

25 must ensure that those laws are in accordance with 


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1 the Constitution. Currently, those laws vary 

2 throughout the Nation, resulting in discrepancies re3 garding which citizens may vote in Federal elections. 

4 (5) Only two States (Maine and Vermont) per5 mit inmates to vote. Thirty-five States prohibit fel6 ons from voting while they are on parole and 30 of 

7 these States exclude felony probationers as well. Two 

8 States deny the right to vote to all ex-offenders who 

9 have completed their sentences. Nine others dis10 enfranchise certain categories of ex-offenders or per11 mit application for restoration of rights for specified 

12 offenses after a waiting period (e.g., 5 years in Dela13 ware and Wyoming, and 2 years in Nebraska). Each 

14 State has developed its own process of restoring vot15 ing rights to ex-offenders but most of these restora16 tion processes are so cumbersome that few ex-of17 fenders are able to take advantage of them. 

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

19 or one in 41 adults, have currently or permanently 

20 lost their voting rights as a result of a felony convic21 tion. 

22 (7) State disenfranchisement laws dispropor23 tionately impact ethnic minorities. 

24 (8) Thirteen States disenfranchise some or all 

25 ex-offenders who have fully served their sentences, 


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1 regardless of the nature or seriousness of the of2 fense. 

3 (9) In those States that disenfranchise ex-of4 fenders who have fully served their sentences, the 

5 right to vote can be regained in theory, but in prac6 tice this possibility is often illusory. 

7 (10) In eight States, a pardon or order from 

8 the Governor is required for an ex-offender to regain 

9 the right to vote. In two States, ex-offenders must 

10 obtain action by the parole or pardon board to re11 gain that right. 

12 (11) Offenders convicted of a Federal offense 

13 often have additional barriers to regaining voting 

14 rights. In at least 16 States, Federal ex-offenders 

15 cannot use the State procedure for restoring their 

16 voting rights. The only method provided by Federal 

17 law for restoring voting rights to ex-offenders is a 

18 Presidential pardon. 

19 (12) Few persons who seek to have their right 

20 to vote restored have the financial and political re21 sources needed to succeed. 

22 (13) Thirteen percent of the African-American 

23 adult male population, or 1,400,000 African-Amer24 ican men, are disenfranchised. Given current rates 

25 of incarceration, 3 in 10 African-American men in 


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1 the next generation will be disenfranchised at some 

2 point during their lifetimes. Hispanic citizens are 

3 also disproportionately disenfranchised, since those 

4 citizens are disproportionately represented in the 

5 criminal justice system. 

6 (14) An estimated 676,730 women are cur7 rently ineligible to vote as a result of a felony convic8 tion. More than 2,000,000 White Americans (His9 panic and non-Hispanic) are disenfranchised as a re10 sult of a felony conviction. In five States that deny 

11 the vote to ex-offenders, one in four Black men are 

12 permanently disenfranchised. 

13 (15) Given current rates of incarceration, 3 in 

14 10 of the next generation of Black men can expect 

15 to be disenfranchised at some point in their lifetime. 

16 In States that disenfranchise ex-offenders, as many 

17 as 40 percent of Black men may permanently lose 

18 their right to vote. Two million one hundred thou19 sand disenfranchised persons are ex-offenders who 

20 have completed their sentences. 

21 (16) The discrepancies described in this sub22 section should be addressed by Congress, in the 

23 name of fundamental fairness and equal protection. 

24 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to restore 

25 fairness in the Federal election process by ensuring that 


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1 ex-offenders who have fully served their sentences are not 

2 denied the right to vote. 

3 SEC. 3. RIGHTS OF CITIZENS. 

4 (a) PROTECTING RIGHT TO VOTE IN FEDERAL

5 ELECTIONS.—The right of an individual who is a citizen 

6 of the United States to vote in any election for Federal 

7 office shall not be denied or abridged because that indi8 vidual has been convicted of a criminal offense unless, at 

9 the time of the election, such individual is serving a felony 

10 sentence in a correctional institution or facility. 

11 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

12 (1) CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION OR FACIL13 ITY.—The term ‘‘correctional institution or facility’’ 

14 means any prison, penitentiary, jail, or other institu15 tion or facility for the confinement of individuals 

16 convicted of criminal offenses, whether publicly or 

17 privately operated, except that such term does not 

18 include any residential community treatment center 

19 (or similar public or private facility). 

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

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

22 election; 

23 (B) a convention or caucus of a political 

24 party held to nominate a candidate; 


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1 (C) a primary election held for the selec2 tion of delegates to a national nominating con3 vention of a political party; or 

4 (D) a primary election held for the expres5 sion of a preference for the nomination of per6 sons for election to the office of President. 

7 (3) FEDERAL OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Federal of8 fice’’ means the office of President or Vice Presi9 dent, or of Senator or Representative in, or Delegate 

10 or Resident Commissioner to, Congress. 

11 SEC. 4. NOTIFYING INDIVIDUALS WHO REGAIN RIGHT TO 

12 VOTE. 

13 (a) REQUIRING NOTIFICATION.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Chief State correctional 

15 officer of each State shall ensure that, not later than 

16 30 days after an individual who is serving a felony 

17 sentence in a correctional institution or facility in 

18 the State is released from the institution or facility, 

19 including an individual who is released on parole or 

20 probation, the individual is notified of the individ21 ual’s right to vote in elections for Federal office and 

22 of the date of the next such election in which the in23 dividual may vote. 

24 (2) EXCEPTION FOR INDIVIDUALS CONTINUING

25 TO SERVE SENTENCES.—Paragraph (1) does not 


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1 apply in the case of an individual who is released 

2 from a correctional institution or facility to serve a 

3 felony sentence in a different correctional institution 

4 or facility. 

5 (3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

6 (A) the term ‘‘parole’’ means parole (in7 cluding mandatory parole) or conditional or su8 pervised release (including mandatory super9 vised release) which is imposed by a Federal, 

10 State, or local court; and 

11 (B) the term ‘‘probation’’ means probation 

12 imposed by a Federal, State, or local court with 

13 or without a condition on the individual in14 volved concerning— 

15 (i) the individual’s freedom of move16 ment, 

17 (ii) the payment of damages by the in18 dividual, 

19 (iii) periodic reporting by the indi20 vidual to an officer of the court, or 

21 (iv) supervision of the individual by an 

22 officer of the court. 

23 (b) APPLICATION TO INDIVIDUALS RELEASED FROM

24 FEDERAL INSTITUTIONS OR FACILITIES.—Subsection (a) 

25 shall apply to the Director of the Bureau of Prisons with 


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1 respect to individuals released from an institution or facil2 ity under the Director’s jurisdiction in the same manner 

3 as such subsection applies to the Chief State correctional 

4 officer of a State with respect to individuals released from 

5 institutions or facilities in that State. 

6 SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT. 

7 (a) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

8 may bring a civil action in a court of competent jurisdic9 tion to obtain such declaratory or injunctive relief as is 

10 necessary to remedy a violation of this Act. 

11 (b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

12 (1) NOTICE.—A person who is aggrieved by a 

13 violation of this Act may provide written notice of 

14 the violation to the chief election official of the State 

15 involved. 

16 (2) ACTION.—Except as provided in paragraph 

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

18 after receipt of a notice provided under paragraph 

19 (1), or within 20 days after receipt of the notice if 

20 the violation occurred within 120 days before the 

21 date of an election for Federal office, the aggrieved 

22 person may bring a civil action in such a court to 

23 obtain the declaratory or injunctive relief with re24 spect to the violation. 


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1 (3) ACTION FOR VIOLATION SHORTLY BEFORE

2 A FEDERAL ELECTION.—If the violation occurred 

3 within 30 days before the date of an election for 

4 Federal office, the aggrieved person shall not be re5 quired to provide notice to the chief election official 

6 of the State under paragraph (1) before bringing a 

7 civil action in such a court to obtain the declaratory 

8 or injunctive relief with respect to the violation. 

9 SEC. 6. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS. 

10 (a) NO PROHIBITION ON LESS RESTRICTIVE

11 LAWS.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit 

12 a State from enacting any State law that affords the right 

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

14 restrictive than those terms established by this Act. 

15 (b) NO LIMITATION ON OTHER LAWS.—The rights 

16 and remedies established by this Act shall be in addition 

17 to all other rights and remedies provided by law, and shall 

18 not supersede, restrict, or limit the application of the Vot19 ing Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.) or the 

20 National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 

21 1973gg et seq.). 

Æ 


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