I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4987 

To secure the Federal voting rights of persons when released from 

incarceration. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 27, 2023 

Ms. CROCKETT (for herself, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. NADLER, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Ms. 

BONAMICI, Ms. BROWN, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. CARSON, Mr. CASAR, Mrs. 

CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania, Mr. DESAULNIER, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. EVANS, 

Mrs. FOUSHEE, Mr. FROST, Mr. ROBERT GARCIA of California, Mr. 

GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mr. GOLDMAN of New York, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. 

HAYES, Mr. IVEY, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. JACOBS, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, 

Mr. KEATING, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. LEE

of Pennsylvania, Mr. LIEU, Ms. MCCLELLAN, Mr. MCGARVEY, Mr. 

MCGOVERN, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. MULLIN, Ms. 

NORTON, Ms. PORTER, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Ms. ROSS, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. SEWELL, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. 

TAKANO, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. 

TONKO, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, and Ms. WILSON of 

Florida) 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, 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•HR 4987 IH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Democracy Restoration 

3 Act of 2023’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress makes the following findings: 

6 (1) The right to vote is the most basic constitu7 tive act of citizenship. Regaining the right to vote 

8 reintegrates individuals with criminal convictions 

9 into free society, helping to enhance public safety. 

10 (2) Article I, section 4, of the Constitution 

11 grants Congress ultimate supervisory power over 

12 Federal elections, an authority which has repeatedly 

13 been upheld by the United States Supreme Court. 

14 (3) Basic constitutional principles of fairness 

15 and equal protection require an equal opportunity 

16 for citizens of the United States to vote in Federal 

17 elections. The right to vote may not be abridged or 

18 denied by the United States or by any State on ac19 count of race, color, gender, or previous condition of 

20 servitude. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, 

21 Nineteenth, Twenty-fourth, and Twenty-sixth 

22 Amendments to the Constitution empower Congress 

23 to enact measures to protect the right to vote in 

24 Federal elections. The Eighth Amendment to the 

25 Constitution provides for no excessive bail to be reVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Aug 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4987.IH H4987

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•HR 4987 IH

1 quired, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and 

2 unusual punishments inflicted. 

3 (4) There are 3 areas in which discrepancies in 

4 State laws regarding criminal convictions lead to un5 fairness in Federal elections— 

6 (A) the lack of a uniform standard for vot7 ing in Federal elections leads to an unfair dis8 parity and unequal participation in Federal 

9 elections based solely on where a person lives; 

10 (B) laws governing the restoration of vot11 ing rights after a criminal conviction vary 

12 throughout the country and persons in some 

13 States can easily regain their voting rights 

14 while in other States persons effectively lose 

15 their right to vote permanently; and 

16 (C) State disenfranchisement laws dis17 proportionately impact racial and ethnic minori18 ties. 

19 (5) State disenfranchisement laws vary widely. 

20 Two States (Maine and Vermont) and the Common21 wealth of Puerto Rico do not disenfranchise individ22 uals with criminal convictions at all. In 2020, the 

23 District of Columbia re-enfranchised its citizens who 

24 are under the supervision of the Federal Bureau of 

25 Prisons. Twenty-five States disenfranchise certain 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•HR 4987 IH

1 individuals on felony probation or parole. During 

2 2023, lawmakers in Minnesota and New Mexico ex3 panded voting rights to citizens on felony probation 

4 and parole. In 11 States, a conviction for certain of5 fenses can result in lifetime disenfranchisement. 

6 (6) Several States deny the right to vote to in7 dividuals convicted of certain misdemeanors. 

8 (7) In 2022, over 4,600,000 citizens of the 

9 United States, or about 1 in 50 adults in the United 

10 States, could not vote as a result of a felony convic11 tion. Of the 4,600,000 citizens barred from voting 

12 then, only 23 percent were in prison or jail. By con13 trast, 75 percent of persons disenfranchised then re14 sided in their communities while on probation or pa15 role or after having completed their sentences. Ap16 proximately 2,200,000 citizens who had completed 

17 their sentences were disenfranchised due to restric18 tive State laws. Over 930,000 Floridians who com19 pleted their sentence remain disenfranchised because 

20 of a pay-to-vote requirement that was enacted by 

21 Florida lawmakers in 2019 to undermine the impact 

22 of a 2018 ballot initiative that eliminated the life23 time ban for persons with certain felony convictions. 

24 In 3 States—Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•HR 4987 IH

1 more than 8 percent of the total population is 

2 disenfranchised. 

3 (8) In those States that disenfranchise individ4 uals post-sentence, the right to vote can be regained 

5 in theory, but in practice this possibility is often 

6 granted in a non-uniform and potentially discrimina7 tory manner. Disenfranchised individuals sometimes 

8 must either obtain a pardon or an order from the 

9 Governor or an action by the parole or pardon 

10 board, depending on the offense and State. Financial 

11 restrictions may also inhibit individuals who have 

12 completed their sentences from re-enfranchisement. 

13 Individuals convicted of a Federal offense often have 

14 additional barriers to regaining voting rights. 

15 (9) Many felony disenfranchisement laws today 

16 derive directly from post-Civil War efforts to stifle 

17 the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. Between 

18 1865 and 1880, at least 14 States—Alabama, Ar19 kansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Mis20 sissippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, North Caro21 lina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas—en22 acted or expanded their felony disenfranchisement 

23 laws. One of the primary goals of these laws was to 

24 prevent African Americans from voting. Of the 

25 States that enacted or expanded their felony disVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Aug 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4987.IH H4987

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
6 

•HR 4987 IH

1 enfranchisement laws during this post-Civil War pe2 riod, at least 11 continue to preclude persons on fel3 ony probation or parole from voting. 

4 (10) State disenfranchisement laws dispropor5 tionately impact racial and ethnic minorities. In re6 cent years, African Americans have been imprisoned 

7 at over 5 times the rate of Whites. More than 6 per8 cent of the voting-age African-American population, 

9 or 1,800,000 African Americans, are disenfranchised 

10 due to a felony conviction. In 9 States—Alabama 

11 (16 percent), Arizona (13 percent), Florida (15 per12 cent), Kentucky (15 percent), Mississippi (16 per13 cent), South Dakota (14 percent), Tennessee (21 

14 percent), Virginia (16 percent), and Wyoming (36 

15 percent)—more than 1 in 8 African Americans are 

16 unable to vote because of a felony conviction, twice 

17 the national average for African Americans. 

18 (11) Latino citizens are also disproportionately 

19 disenfranchised based upon their disproportionate 

20 representation in the criminal justice system. Al21 though data on ethnicity in correctional populations 

22 are unevenly reported and undercounted in some 

23 States, a conservative estimate is that at least 

24 506,000 Latino Americans or 1.7 percent of the vot25 ing-age population are disenfranchised. More than 2 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
7 

•HR 4987 IH

1 percent of the voting-age Latino population, or 

2 560,000 Latinos, are disenfranchised due to a felony 

3 conviction. In 31 States Latinos are disenfranchised 

4 at a higher rate than the general population. In Ari5 zona and Tennessee over 6 percent of Latino voters 

6 are disenfranchised due to a felony conviction. 

7 (12) Women have been significantly impacted 

8 by mass incarceration since the early 1980s. Ap9 proximately 1,000,000 women were disenfranchised 

10 in 2022, comprising over 20 percent of the total 

11 disenfranchised population. 

12 (13) Disenfranchising citizens who have been 

13 convicted of a criminal offense and who are living 

14 and working in the community serves no compelling 

15 State interest and hinders their rehabilitation and 

16 reintegration into society. Models of successful re17 entry for persons convicted of a crime emphasize the 

18 importance of community ties, feeling vested and in19 tegrated, and prosocial attitudes. Individuals with 

20 criminal convictions who succeed in avoiding recidi21 vism are typically more likely to see themselves as 

22 law-abiding members of the community. Restoration 

23 of voting rights builds those qualities and facilitates 

24 reintegration into the community. That is why allow25 ing citizens with criminal convictions who are living 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
8 

•HR 4987 IH

1 in a community to vote is correlated with a lower 

2 likelihood of recidivism. Restoration of voting rights 

3 thus reduces violence and protects public safety. 

4 (14) State disenfranchisement laws can sup5 press electoral participation among eligible voters by 

6 discouraging voting among family and community 

7 members of disenfranchised persons. Future elec8 toral participation by the children of disenfranchised 

9 parents may be impacted as well. 

10 (15) The United States is one of the only West11 ern democracies that permits the permanent denial 

12 of voting rights for individuals with felony convic13 tions. 

14 (16) The Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on 

15 cruel and unusual punishments ‘‘guarantees individ16 uals the right not to be subjected to excessive sanc17 tions’’. (Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551, 560 

18 (2005)). That right stems from the basic precept of 

19 justice ‘‘that punishment for crime should be grad20 uated and proportioned to [the] offense’’. Id. 

21 (quoting Weems v. United States, 217 U.S. 349, 

22 367 (1910)). As the Supreme Court has long recog23 nized, ‘‘[t]he concept of proportionality is central to 

24 the Eighth Amendment’’. (Graham v. Florida, 560 

25 U.S. 48, 59 (2010)). Many State disenfranchisement 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
9 

•HR 4987 IH

1 laws are grossly disproportional to the offenses that 

2 lead to disenfranchisement and thus violate the bar 

3 on cruel and unusual punishments. For example, a 

4 number of States mandate lifetime disenfranchise5 ment for a single felony conviction or just two felony 

6 convictions, even where the convictions were for non7 violent offenses. In numerous other States, dis8 enfranchisement can last years or even decades while 

9 individuals remain on probation or parole, often only 

10 because a person cannot pay their legal financial ob11 ligations. These kinds of extreme voting bans run 

12 afoul of the Eighth Amendment. 

13 (17) The Twenty-Fourth Amendment provides 

14 that the right to vote ‘‘shall not be denied or 

15 abridged by the United States or any State by rea16 son of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax’’. Sec17 tion 2 of the Twenty-Fourth Amendment gives Con18 gress the power to enforce this article by appropriate 

19 legislation. Court fines and fees that individuals 

20 must pay to have their voting rights restored con21 stitute an ‘‘other tax’’ for purposes of the Twenty22 Fourth Amendment. At least five States explicitly 

23 require the payment of fines and fees before individ24 uals with felony convictions can have their voting 

25 rights restored. More than 20 other States effecVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Aug 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4987.IH H4987

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
10 

•HR 4987 IH

1 tively tie the right to vote to the payment of fines 

2 and fees, by requiring that individuals complete their 

3 probation or parole before their rights are restored. 

4 In these States, the non-payment of fines and fees 

5 is a basis on which probation or parole can be ex6 tended. Moreover, these States sometimes do not 

7 record the basis on which an individual’s probation 

8 or parole was extended, making it impossible to de9 termine from the State’s records whether non-pay10 ment of fines and fees is the reason that an indi11 vidual remains on probation or parole. For these 

12 reasons, the only way to ensure that States do not 

13 deny the right to vote based solely on non-payment 

14 of fines and fees is to prevent States from condi15 tioning voting rights on the completion of probation 

16 or parole. 

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. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
11 

•HR 4987 IH

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) 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. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
12 

•HR 4987 IH

1 SEC. 5. 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 2023 and may register to vote in any 

11 such election and provide such individuals with any 

12 materials that are necessary to register to vote in 

13 any such election. 

14 (2) DATE OF NOTIFICATION.— 

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

16 such an individual who has been convicted of a 

17 felony, the notification required under para18 graph (1) shall be given on the date on which 

19 the individual— 

20 (i) is sentenced to serve only a term 

21 of probation; or 

22 (ii) is released from the custody of 

23 that State (other than to the custody of 

24 another State or the Federal Government 

25 to serve a term of imprisonment for a fel26 ony conviction). 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
13 

•HR 4987 IH

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 (b) FEDERAL NOTIFICATION.— 

8 (1) NOTIFICATION.—Any individual who has 

9 been convicted of a criminal offense under Federal 

10 law shall be notified in accordance with paragraph 

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

12 election for Federal office pursuant to the Democ13 racy Restoration Act of 2023 and may register to 

14 vote in any such election. 

15 (2) DATE OF NOTIFICATION.— 

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

17 such an individual who has been convicted of a 

18 felony, the notification required under para19 graph (1) shall be given— 

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

21 sentenced to serve only a term of proba22 tion, by the Assistant Director for the Of23 fice of Probation and Pretrial Services of 

24 the Administrative Office of the United 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
14 

•HR 4987 IH

1 States Courts on the date on which the in2 dividual is sentenced; or 

3 (ii) in the case of any individual com4 mitted to the custody of the Bureau of 

5 Prisons, by the Director of the Bureau of 

6 Prisons, during the period beginning on 

7 the date that is 6 months before such indi8 vidual is released and ending on the date 

9 such individual is released from the cus10 tody of the Bureau of Prisons. 

11 (B) MISDEMEANOR CONVICTION.—In the 

12 case of such an individual who has been con13 victed of a misdemeanor, the notification re14 quired under paragraph (1) shall be given on 

15 the date on which such individual is sentenced 

16 by a court established by an Act of Congress. 

17 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

18 For purposes of this Act: 

19 (1) CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION OR FACIL20 ITY.—The term ‘‘correctional institution or facility’’ 

21 means any prison, penitentiary, jail, or other institu22 tion or facility for the confinement of individuals 

23 convicted of criminal offenses, whether publicly or 

24 privately operated, except that such term does not 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
15 

•HR 4987 IH

1 include any residential community treatment center 

2 (or similar public or private facility). 

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

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

5 election; 

6 (B) a convention or caucus of a political 

7 party held to nominate a candidate; 

8 (C) a primary election held for the selec9 tion of delegates to a national nominating con10 vention of a political party; or 

11 (D) a primary election held for the expres12 sion of a preference for the nomination of per13 sons for election to the office of President. 

14 (3) FEDERAL OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Federal of15 fice’’ means the office of President or Vice President 

16 of the United States, or of Senator or Representa17 tive in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, 

18 the Congress of the United States. 

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

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

21 court, with or without a condition on the individual 

22 involved concerning— 

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

24 (B) the payment of damages by the indi25 vidual; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
16 

•HR 4987 IH

1 (C) periodic reporting by the individual to 

2 an officer of the court; or 

3 (D) supervision of the individual by an of4 ficer of the court. 

5 SEC. 7. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS. 

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

7 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit any 

8 State from enacting any State law which affords the right 

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

10 restrictive than those established by this Act. 

11 (b) CERTAIN FEDERAL ACTS.—The rights and rem12 edies established by this Act are in addition to all other 

13 rights and remedies provided by law, and neither rights 

14 and remedies established by this Act shall supersede, re15 strict, or limit the application of the Voting Rights Act 

16 of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.), the National Voter 

17 Registration Act (52 U.S.C. 20501), or the Help America 

18 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20901 et seq.). 

19 SEC. 8. FEDERAL PRISON FUNDS. 

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

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

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

23 funds unless that State, unit of local government, or per24 son— 

25 (1) is in compliance with section 3; and 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
17 

•HR 4987 IH

1 (2) has in effect a program under which each 

2 individual incarcerated in that person’s jurisdiction 

3 who is a citizen of the United States is notified, 

4 upon release from such incarceration, of that indi5 vidual’s rights under section 3. 

6 SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

7 This Act shall apply to citizens of the United States 

8 voting in any election for Federal office held on or after 

9 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB