II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3640 

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

from incarceration. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 26 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 17), 2008 

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 2008’’. 

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 and 15th Amendments to the Constitution empower 

15 Congress to enact measures to protect the right to 

16 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 are unequal 

25 throughout the country and persons in some States 


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1 can easily regain their voting rights while in other 

2 States persons effectively lose their right to vote per3 manently; and (C) State disenfranchisement laws 

4 disproportionately impact racial 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 thirty-five States, convicted offend14 ers may not vote while they are on parole and thirty 

15 of these States disenfranchise felony probationers as 

16 well. In ten States, a conviction can result in lifetime 

17 disenfranchisement. 

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

19 about one in forty-one adults, currently cannot vote 

20 as a result of a felony conviction. Nearly 4,000,000 

21 (74 percent) of the 5,300,000 disqualified voters are 

22 not in prison, but are on probation or parole, or are 

23 ex-offenders. Approximately 2,000,000 of those indi24 viduals are individuals who have completed their enVerDate Aug 31 2005 06:04 Sep 29, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3640.IS S3640

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1 tire sentence, including probation and parole, yet re2 main 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 illusory. Of6 fenders must either obtain a pardon or order from 

7 the Governor or action by the parole or pardon 

8 board, depending on the offense and State. Offend9 ers convicted of a Federal offense often have addi10 tional barriers to regaining voting rights. 

11 (8) In at least 16 States, Federal offenders 

12 cannot use the State procedure for restoring their 

13 civil rights. The only method provided by Federal 

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

15 Presidential pardon. Few persons who seek to have 

16 their right to vote restored have the financial and 

17 political resources needed to succeed. 

18 (9) State disenfranchisement laws dispropor19 tionately impact ethnic minorities. Thirteen percent 

20 of the African-American adult male population, or 

21 1,400,000 African-American men, are 

22 disenfranchised. Given current rates of incarcer23 ation, three in ten of the next generation of black 

24 men will be disenfranchised at some point during 

25 their lifetime. Hispanic citizens are also disproporVerDate Aug 31 2005 06:04 Sep 29, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3640.IS S3640

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1 tionately disenfranchised since they are dispropor2 tionately represented in the criminal justice system. 

3 (10) Disenfranchising citizens who have been 

4 convicted of a felony offense and who are living and 

5 working in the community serves no compelling 

6 State interest and hinders their rehabilitation and 

7 reintegration into society. 

8 (11) State disenfranchisement laws suppress 

9 electoral participation among eligible voters and 

10 damage the integrity of the electoral process. State 

11 disenfranchisement laws significantly impact the rate 

12 of electoral participation among the children of 

13 disenfranchised parents. 

14 (12) The United States in the only Western de15 mocracy that permits the permanent denial of voting 

16 rights to individuals with felony convictions. 

17 SEC. 3. RIGHTS OF CITIZENS. 

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

19 United States to vote in any election for Federal office 

20 shall not be denied or abridged because that individual has 

21 been convicted of a criminal offense unless such individual 

22 is serving a felony sentence in a correctional institution 

23 or facility at the time of the election. 


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1 SEC. 4. 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) A person who is aggrieved by a violation of 

7 this Act may provide written notice of the violation 

8 to the chief election official of the State involved. 

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

10 violation is not corrected within 90 days after receipt 

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

12 after receipt of the notice if the violation occurred 

13 within 120 days before the date of an election for 

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

15 action obtain declaratory or injunctive relief with re16 spect to the violation. 

17 (3) If the violation occurred within 30 days be18 fore the date of an election for Federal office, the 

19 aggrieved person need not provide notice to the chief 

20 election official of the State under paragraph (1) be21 fore bringing a civil action to obtain declaratory or 

22 injunctive relief with respect to the violation. 

23 SEC. 5. NOTIFICATION OF RESTORATION OF VOTING 

24 RIGHTS. 

25 (a) STATE NOTIFICATION.— 


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1 (1) NOTIFICATION.—On the date determined 

2 under paragraph (2), each State shall notify in writ3 ing any individual who has been convicted of a 

4 criminal offense under the law of that State that 

5 such individual has the right to vote in an election 

6 for Federal office pursuant to the Democracy Res7 toration Act and may register to vote in any such 

8 election. 

9 (2) DATE OF NOTIFICATION.— 

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

11 such an individual who has been convicted of a 

12 felony, the notification required under para13 graph (1) shall be given on the date on which 

14 the individual— 

15 (i) is sentenced to serve only a term 

16 of probation; or 

17 (ii) is released from the custody of 

18 that State (other than to the custody of 

19 another State or the Federal Government 

20 to serve a term of imprisonment for a fel21 ony conviction). 

22 (B) MISDEMEANOR CONVICTION.—In the 

23 case of such an individual who has been con24 victed of a misdemeanor, the notification re25 quired under paragraph (1) shall be given on 


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1 the date on which such individual is sentenced 

2 by a State court. 

3 (b) FEDERAL NOTIFICATION.— 

4 (1) NOTIFICATION.—On the date determined 

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

6 Prisons shall notify in writing any individual who 

7 has been convicted of a criminal offense under Fed8 eral law that such individual has the right to vote 

9 in an election for Federal office pursuant to the De10 mocracy Restoration Act and may register to vote in 

11 any 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 by a court established by an 

20 Act of Congress; or 

21 (ii) is released from the custody of the 

22 Bureau of Prisons (other than to the cus23 tody of a State to serve a term of impris24 onment for a felony conviction). 


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1 (B) MISDEMEANOR CONVICTION.—In the 

2 case of such an individual who has been con3 victed of a misdemeanor, the notification re4 quired under paragraph (1) shall be given on 

5 the date on which such individual is sentenced 

6 by a State court. 

7 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

8 For purposes of this Act: 

9 (1) CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION OR FACIL10 ITY.—The term ‘‘correctional institution or facility’’ 

11 means any prison, penitentiary, jail, or other institu12 tion or facility for the confinement of individuals 

13 convicted of criminal offenses, whether publicly or 

14 privately operated, except that such term does not 

15 include any residential community treatment center 

16 (or similar public or private facility). 

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

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

19 election; 

20 (B) a convention or caucus of a political 

21 party held to nominate a candidate; 

22 (C) a primary election held for the selec23 tion of delegates to a national nominating con24 vention of a political party; or 


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1 (D) a primary election held for the expres2 sion of a preference for the nomination of per3 sons for election to the office of President. 

4 (3) FEDERAL OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Federal of5 fice’’ means the office of President or Vice President 

6 of the United States, or of Senator or Representa7 tive in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, 

8 the Congress of the United States. 

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

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

11 court, with or without a condition on the individual 

12 involved concerning— 

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

14 (B) the payment of damages by the indi15 vidual; 

16 (C) periodic reporting by the individual to 

17 an officer of the court; or 

18 (D) supervision of the individual by an of19 ficer of the court. 

20 SEC. 7. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS. 

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

22 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit the 

23 States enacting any State law which affords the right to 

24 vote in any election for Federal office on terms less restric25 tive than those established by this Act. 


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1 (b) CERTAIN FEDERAL ACTS.—The rights and rem2 edies established by this Act are in addition to all other 

3 rights and remedies provided by law, and neither rights 

4 and remedies established by this Act shall supersede, re5 strict, or limit the application of the Voting Rights Act 

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

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

8 SEC. 8. FEDERAL PRISON FUNDS. 

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

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

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

12 grant amounts unless that person has in effect a program 

13 under which each individual incarcerated in that person’s 

14 jurisdiction who is a citizen of the United States is noti15 fied, upon release from such incarceration, of that individ16 ual’s rights under section 3. 

17 SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

18 This Act shall apply to citizens of the United States 

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

20 of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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