I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7359 

To authorize the use of certain Department of Justice grant funds for 

voting restoration education, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 20, 2018 

Ms. MOORE (for herself, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. CLARKE of New York, and 

Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To authorize the use of certain Department of Justice grant 

funds for voting restoration education, 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 ‘‘Voter Information and 

5 Access Act of 2018’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•HR 7359 IH

1 SEC. 2. USE OF DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE GRANT FUNDS 

2 FOR VOTING RESTORATION EDUCATION. 

3 (a) SECOND CHANCE ACT OF 2007.—Section 3 of the 

4 Second Chance Act of 2007 (34 U.S.C. 60501) is amend5 ed— 

6 (1) in subsection (a)— 

7 (A) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

8 the end; 

9 (B) in paragraph (6), by striking the pe10 riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

11 (C) by inserting after paragraph (6) the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘(7) to provide persons in prisons, jails, and ju14 venile facilities (as applicable) with counseling, edu15 cation, and information services on voting restora16 tion and voter registration; and 

17 ‘‘(8) to install polling stations in jails or provide 

18 absentee ballots to incarcerated persons who are eli19 gible to vote.’’; and 

20 (2) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(20) Restoring the voting rights of incarcer23 ated persons after their release can reduce recidi24 vism’’. 

25 (b) ADULT AND JUVENILE OFFENDER STATE AND

26 LOCAL REENTRY DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.—Section 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•HR 7359 IH

1 2976 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act 

2 of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10631) is amended— 

3 (1) in subsection (b)(1), by inserting after ‘‘lit4 eracy,’’ the following: ‘‘voting restoration, voter reg5 istration,’’; 

6 (2) in subsection (e)(3), by inserting after ‘‘vic7 tims services,’’ the following: ‘‘voting restoration, 

8 voter registration,’’; 

9 (3) in subsection (j)(2)— 

10 (A) in subparagraph (G), by striking 

11 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

12 (B) in subparagraph (H), by striking the 

13 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

14 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (H) 

15 the following: 

16 ‘‘(I) increased voter registration or restora17 tion.’’; and 

18 (4) in subsection (m)(3)— 

19 (A) in subparagraph (H), by striking 

20 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

21 (B) in subparagraph (I), by striking the 

22 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

23 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (I) the 

24 following: 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•HR 7359 IH

1 ‘‘(J) disseminate relevant voter restoration 

2 and voter registration information for each 

3 State.’’. 

4 (c) STATE, TRIBAL, AND LOCAL REENTRY

5 COURTS.—Section 2978(b)(4) of the Omnibus Crime Con6 trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10633(b)(4)) 

7 is amended— 

8 (1) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

9 the end; and 

10 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (F) the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(G) voter registration; and’’. 

13 (d) FEDERAL FORMERLY INCARCERATED PERSONS

14 REENTRY INITIATIVE.—Section 4042(a)(E) of title 18, 

15 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(viii) Voting restoration and voter 

18 registration.’’. 

19 SEC. 3. GRANTS TO ENCOURAGE VOTING AMONG ELIGIBLE 

20 DETAINED AND INCARCERATED PERSONS. 

21 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney General is au22 thorized to make grants to States and units of local gov23 ernment to— 

24 (1) install polling places in jails for use by de25 tained persons eligible to vote; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
5 

•HR 7359 IH

1 (2) provide absentee ballots to detained persons 

2 eligible to vote; and 

3 (3) provide counseling, education, and informa4 tion services on voting restoration and voter reg5 istration in prisons. 

6 (b) APPLICATION.—The chief executive officer of a 

7 State or unit of local government seeking a grant under 

8 this section shall submit to the Attorney General an appli9 cation at such time, in such manner, and containing such 

10 information as the Attorney General may reasonably re11 quire. 

12 (c) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con13 gress that recipients of grants under this section should 

14 continue to partner with entities possessing an existing 

15 and proven track record of providing affected populations 

16 with services described in subsection (a) on the date of 

17 the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS