I 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4762 
To secure the Federal voting rights of a person upon the unconditional 
release of that person from prison and the completion of sentence, includ-
ing parole. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 15, 2006 
Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To secure the Federal voting rights of a person upon the 
unconditional release of that person from prison and 
the completion of sentence, including parole. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Second Chance Voting 
Rights Act of 2006’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress makes the following findings: 
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(1) The right to vote is the most fundamental 
act performed by citizens in our great representative 
democracy. 
(2) Citizen participation in local, State, and 
Federal elections is the primary means to assure 
representation of many constituent groups in the po-
litical process. 
(3) More than 500,000 Americans who were 
convicted of felony crimes have served their entire 
sentence and stand free and clear of incarceration 
and parole. 
(4) It is the civic duty of every citizen of the 
United States to vote in any election in order to 
guarantee full and fair representation of all inter-
ests. 
(5) Allowing ex-offenders to vote restores them 
to their role as responsible citizens in this great 
country whose greatness is strengthened by the civic 
rehabilitation and participation of all nonvoting citi-
zens. 
(6) The States of Alaska, Arkansas, California, 
Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, 
Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, 
Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, 
New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Or-
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egon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, 
South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, and 
the District of Columbia, restore the right to vote 
automatically upon the completion of sentence, in-
cluding parole. 
(7) The United States should ensure that the 
Federal voting rights of a person are restored upon 
the unconditional release of that person from prison 
and the completion of sentence, including parole. 
SEC. 3. FEDERAL VOTING RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUALS WHO 
HAVE BEEN CONVICTED OF A CRIMINAL OF-
FENSE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The right of an individual who is 
a citizen of the United States to vote in any election for 
Federal office shall not be denied or abridged because that 
individual has been convicted of a criminal offense. 
(b) APPLICABILITY.—Subsection (a) shall apply to an 
individual convicted of a criminal offense upon the uncon-
ditional release of that individual from incarceration for 
that offense and the completion of sentence for that of-
fense, including parole. 
SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT. 
(a) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney General 
may, in a civil action, obtain such declaratory or injunctive 
relief as is necessary to remedy a violation of this Act. 
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(b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 
(1) A person who is aggrieved by a violation of 
this Act may provide written notice of the violation 
to the chief election official of the State involved. 
(2) Except as provided in paragraph (3), if the 
violation is not corrected within 90 days after receipt 
of a notice under paragraph (1), or within 20 days 
after receipt of the notice if the violation occurred 
within 120 days before the date of an election for 
Federal office, the aggrieved person may, in a civil 
action obtain declaratory or injunctive relief with re-
spect to the violation. 
(3) If the violation occurred within 30 days be-
fore the date of an election for Federal office, the 
aggrieved person need not provide notice to the chief 
election official of the State under paragraph (1) be-
fore bringing a civil action to obtain declaratory or 
injunctive relief with respect to the violation. 
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this Act— 
(1) the term ‘‘election’’ means— 
(A) a general, special, primary, or runoff 
election; 
(B) a convention or caucus of a political 
party held to nominate a candidate; 
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(C) a primary election held for the selec-
tion of delegates to a national nominating con-
vention of a political party; or 
(D) a primary election held for the expres-
sion of a preference for the nomination of per-
sons for election to the office of President; and 
(2) the term ‘‘Federal office’’ means the office 
of President or Vice President of the United States, 
or of Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or 
Resident Commissioner to, the Congress of the 
United States. 
SEC. 6. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS. 
(a) STATE LAWS.—Nothing in this Act shall be con-
strued to prohibit the States enacting any State law which 
affords the right to vote in any election for Federal office 
on terms less restrictive than those established by this Act. 
(b) FEDERAL LAWS.—The rights and remedies es-
tablished by this Act are in addition to all other rights 
and remedies provided by law, and neither rights and rem-
edies established by this Act shall supersede, restrict, or 
limit the application of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 
U.S.C. 1973 et seq.) or the National Voter Registration 
Act (42 U.S.C. 1973–gg). 
Æ 
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