II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 457 

To secure the Federal voting rights of non-violent persons when released 

from incarceration. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 11, 2015 

Mr. PAUL (for himself and Mr. REID) 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 non-violent 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Civil Rights Voting 

5 Restoration Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION OR FACIL9 ITY.—The term ‘‘correctional institution or facility’’ 

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1 tion or facility for the confinement of individuals 

2 convicted of criminal offenses, whether publicly or 

3 privately operated, except that such term does not 

4 include any residential community treatment center 

5 (or similar public or private facility). 

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

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

8 election; 

9 (B) a convention or caucus of a political 

10 party held to nominate a candidate; 

11 (C) a primary election held for the selec12 tion of delegates to a national nominating con13 vention of a political party; or 

14 (D) a primary election held for the expres15 sion of a preference for the nomination of per16 sons for election to the office of President. 

17 (3) FEDERAL OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Federal of18 fice’’ means the office of President or Vice President 

19 of the United States, or of Senator or Representa20 tive in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, 

21 the Congress of the United States. 

22 (4) NON-VIOLENT CRIMINAL OFFENSE.—The 

23 term ‘‘non-violent criminal offense’’ means any of24 fense that is not a crime of violence (as defined in 

25 section 16 of title 18, United States Code). 


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1 (5) PROBATION.—The term ‘‘probation’’ means 

2 probation or parole supervision, imposed by a Fed3 eral, State, or local court or parole board, with or 

4 without a condition on the individual involved con5 cerning— 

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

7 (B) the payment of damages by the indi8 vidual; 

9 (C) periodic reporting by the individual to 

10 an officer of the court or parole board; or 

11 (D) supervision of the individual by an of12 ficer of the court or parole board. 

13 SEC. 3. RIGHTS OF CITIZENS. 

14 (a) RIGHT TO VOTE.—The right of an individual who 

15 is a citizen of the United States to vote in any election 

16 for Federal office shall not be denied or abridged because 

17 the individual has been convicted of a non-violent criminal 

18 offense, unless, at the time of the election, the individual— 

19 (1) is serving a sentence in a correctional insti20 tution or facility; or 

21 (2) subject to subsection (b), is serving a term 

22 of probation. 

23 (b) RESTORATION OF VOTING RIGHTS FOR INDIVID24 UALS ON PROBATION.—An individual who is serving a 


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1 term of probation shall have the right to vote restored in 

2 any election for Federal office— 

3 (1) on the date on which the term of probation 

4 ends, if the term of probation is less than 1 year; 

5 or 

6 (2) on the date that is 1 year after the date on 

7 which the individual begins serving the term of pro8 bation, if the term of probation is 1 year or longer. 

9 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 

10 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act. 

11 SEC. 4. ATTORNEY GENERAL DESIGNATION. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

13 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall 

14 determine which criminal offenses under Federal law and 

15 the laws of each State are non-violent criminal offenses 

16 and establish a list of all such offenses. 

17 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The list established under sub18 section (a) shall be— 

19 (1) made publically available, in a searchable 

20 format, on the website of the Department of Justice; 

21 and 

22 (2) updated no less frequently than every year. 


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1 SEC. 5. 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. 


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1 SEC. 6. 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 non7 violent criminal offense under the law of that State 

8 that the individual has, pursuant to this Act, the 

9 right to vote in an election for Federal office and to 

10 register to vote in any such election, subject to sec11 tion 7(c). 

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; or 

20 (ii) is released from the custody of 

21 that State (other than to the custody of 

22 another State or the Federal Government 

23 to serve a term of imprisonment for a fel24 ony conviction). 

25 (B) MISDEMEANOR CONVICTION.—In the 

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1 victed of a misdemeanor, the notification re2 quired under paragraph (1) shall be given on 

3 the date on which the individual is sentenced by 

4 a State court. 

5 (b) FEDERAL NOTIFICATION.— 

6 (1) NOTIFICATION.—On the date determined 

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

8 Prisons shall notify in writing any individual who 

9 has been convicted of a non-violent criminal offense 

10 under Federal law that the individual has, pursuant 

11 to this Act, the right to vote in an election for Fed12 eral office and to register to vote in any such elec13 tion, subject to section 7(c). 

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 by a court established by an 

22 Act of Congress; or 

23 (ii) is released from the custody of the 

24 Bureau of Prisons (other than to the cusVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:01 Feb 18, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S457.IS S457

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1 tody of a State to serve a term of impris2 onment for a felony conviction). 

3 (B) MISDEMEANOR CONVICTION.—In the 

4 case of such an individual who has been con5 victed of a misdemeanor, the notification re6 quired under paragraph (1) shall be given on 

7 the date on which the individual is sentenced by 

8 a State court. 

9 SEC. 7. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS. 

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

11 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit the 

12 States from enacting any State law which affords the right 

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

14 restrictive than those established by this Act. 

15 (b) CERTAIN FEDERAL ACTS.—The rights and rem16 edies established by this Act— 

17 (1) are in addition to all other rights and rem18 edies provided by law; and 

19 (2) shall not supersede, restrict, or limit the ap20 plication of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 

21 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.) or the National Voter Registra22 tion Act (42 U.S.C. 1973–gg). 

23 (c) STATE LAWS RELATING TO VOTER REGISTRA24 TION.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to preempt 


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1 State laws relating to the timing of voter registration for 

2 any election for Federal office. 

3 SEC. 8. FEDERAL PRISON FUNDS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—No State, unit of local govern5 ment, or other person may receive or use, to construct or 

6 otherwise improve a prison, jail, or other place of incarcer7 ation, any Federal grant amounts unless that person has 

8 in effect a program under which each individual incarcer9 ated in that person’s jurisdiction is notified, upon release 

10 from such incarceration, of that individual’s rights under 

11 section 3. 

12 (b) STATE NON-COMPLIANCE WITH NOTIFICATION

13 REQUIREMENTS.—No State may receive or use, to con14 struct or otherwise improve a prison, jail, or other place 

15 of incarceration, any Federal grant amounts unless the 

16 State is in compliance with the notification requirements 

17 under section 6(a). 

Æ 


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