I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1971

To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require States

to give notice and an opportunity for review prior to removing individuals

from the official list of eligible voters in elections for Federal office

by reason of criminal conviction, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 23, 2001

Mrs. MEEK of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on House Administration

A BILL

To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to

require States to give notice and an opportunity for

review prior to removing individuals from the official

list of eligible voters in elections for Federal office by

reason of criminal conviction, and for other purposes.

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 ‘‘Voting Rights Protec5 tion Act of 2001’’.
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1 SEC. 2. REQUIRING STATES TO GIVE NOTICE AND OPPOR2 TUNITY FOR REVIEW PRIOR TO REMOVING

3 INDIVIDUALS FROM VOTING ROLLS BY REA4 SON OF CRIMINAL CONVICTION.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The National Voter Registration

6 Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg et seq.) is amended by

7 inserting after section 8 the following new section:

8 ‘‘SEC. 8A. NOTICE AND REVIEW REQUIREMENTS FOR RE9 MOVAL OF INDIVIDUALS FROM VOTING

10 ROLLS FOR CRIMINAL CONVICTION.

11 ‘‘(a) NOTICE OF REMOVAL.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State may not remove a

13 registrant from the official list of eligible voters for

14 elections for Federal office by reason of criminal

15 conviction unless the State provides the registrant

16 with a notice of removal containing the information

17 required under paragraph (2)—

18 ‘‘(A) not later than 60 days before the

19 date of the first election for Federal office

20 which occurs after the date on which the reg21 istrant is convicted; or

22 ‘‘(B) if the first election for Federal office

23 occurs fewer than 60 days after the date on

24 which the registrant is convicted, not later than

25 60 days before the date of the second such elec-
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1 tion which occurs after the registrant is con2 victed.

3 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF NOTICE.—The notice of re4 moval required under this subsection shall include

5 the following:

6 ‘‘(A) A statement that the State intends to

7 remove the registrant from the official list of el8 igible voters for elections for Federal office.

9 ‘‘(B) A description of the reasons for re10 moval, including sufficient identifying informa11 tion on the criminal conviction alleged to be the

12 basis for removal to enable the registrant to de13 termine whether the registrant was convicted of

14 the offense cited in the notice.

15 ‘‘(C) A statement that the registrant may

16 obtain a review of the removal from an appro17 priate election official of the State in accord18 ance with subsection (b).

19 ‘‘(b) REVIEW.—

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A registrant who receives a

21 notice of removal under subsection (a) may submit

22 a written request to an appropriate election official

23 of the State to withdraw the notice and retain the

24 registrant on the official list of eligible voters, and

25 may include in the request such information and evi-
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1 dence as the registrant considers appropriate to

2 show that the registrant was not convicted of the

3 criminal offense cited in the notice or is otherwise

4 not subject to removal from the list under State law.

5 ‘‘(2) RESPONSE BY STATE.—If a registrant

6 submits a written request under paragraph (1), the

7 State shall review the information and evidence in8 cluded and accept or reject the request not later

9 than 10 days after receipt, and shall notify the reg10 istrant in writing of its decision.

11 ‘‘(3) STAY OF REMOVAL IF REQUEST SUB12 MITTED WITHIN 30 DAYS.—If a registrant submits a

13 written request under paragraph (1) within the 30-

14 day period which begins on the date the registrant

15 receives the notice of removal under subsection (a),

16 the State may not remove the registrant from the of17 ficial list of eligible voters until it has completed its

18 review of the request under this subsection and noti19 fied the registrant of its decision. Nothing in this

20 paragraph may be construed to permit a State to

21 refuse to consider a written request submitted under

22 paragraph (1) by a registrant after the 30-day pe23 riod referred to in the previous sentence, or to limit

24 any other rights provided to the registrant under the

25 laws of the State to challenge the proposed removal
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1 of the registrant from the official list of eligible vot2 ers.’’.

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 8(a)(3)(B)

4 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–6(a)(3)(B)) is amended

5 by inserting after ‘‘criminal conviction’’ the following:

6 ‘‘(subject to the requirements of section 8A)’’.

7 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

8 The amendments made by this Act shall apply with

9 respect to elections occurring after the date of the enact10 ment of this Act.

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