I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 59 
To secure the Federal voting rights of certain qualified ex-offenders who 
have served their sentences. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 6, 2009 
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To secure the Federal voting rights of certain qualified ex- 
offenders who have served their sentences. 
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 ‘‘Ex-Offenders Voting 
Rights Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find-
ings: 
(1) The right to vote is the most basic constitu-
tive act of citizenship and regaining the right to vote 
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reintegrates offenders into free society. The right to 
vote may not be abridged or denied by the United 
States or by any State on account of race, color, 
gender, or previous condition of servitude. Basic con-
stitutional principles of fairness and equal protection 
require an equal opportunity for United States citi-
zens to vote in Federal elections. 
(2) Since the founding of the Nation, most 
States have enacted laws disenfranchising convicted 
felons and ex-felons. In the last 30 years, due to the 
dramatic expansion of the criminal justice system, 
these laws have significantly affected the political 
voice of many American communities. The momen-
tum toward reform of these policies has been based 
on a reconsideration of their wisdom in meeting le-
gitimate correctional objectives and the interests of 
full democratic participation. Forty-eight States and 
the District of Columbia prohibit inmates from vot-
ing while incarcerated for a felony offense. 
(3) Congress has ultimate supervisory power 
over Federal elections, an authority that has repeat-
edly been upheld by the Supreme Court. 
(4) Although State laws determine the quali-
fications for voting in Federal elections, Congress 
must ensure that those laws are in accordance with 
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the 
Constitution. 
Currently, 
those 
laws 
vary 
throughout the Nation, resulting in discrepancies re-
garding which citizens may vote in Federal elections. 
(5) Only two States (Maine and Vermont) per-
mit inmates to vote. Thirty-five States prohibit fel-
ons from voting while they are on parole and 30 of 
these States exclude felony probationers as well. Two 
States deny the right to vote to all ex-offenders who 
have completed their sentences. Nine others dis-
enfranchise certain categories of ex-offenders or per-
mit application for restoration of rights for specified 
offenses after a waiting period (e.g., 5 years in Dela-
ware and Wyoming, and 2 years in Nebraska). Each 
State has developed its own process of restoring vot-
ing rights to ex-offenders but most of these restora-
tion processes are so cumbersome that few ex-of-
fenders are able to take advantage of them. 
(6) An estimated 5,300,000 million Americans, 
or one in 41 adults, have currently or permanently 
lost their voting rights as a result of a felony convic-
tion. 
(7) State disenfranchisement laws dispropor-
tionately impact ethnic minorities. 
(8) Thirteen States disenfranchise some or all 
ex-offenders who have fully served their sentences, 
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regardless of the nature or seriousness of the of-
fense. 
(9) In those States that disenfranchise ex-of-
fenders who have fully served their sentences, the 
right to vote can be regained in theory, but in prac-
tice this possibility is often illusory. 
(10) In eight States, a pardon or order from 
the Governor is required for an ex-offender to regain 
the right to vote. In two States, ex-offenders must 
obtain action by the parole or pardon board to re-
gain that right. 
(11) Offenders convicted of a Federal offense 
often have additional barriers to regaining voting 
rights. In at least 16 States, Federal ex-offenders 
cannot use the State procedure for restoring their 
voting rights. The only method provided by Federal 
law for restoring voting rights to ex-offenders is a 
Presidential pardon. 
(12) Few persons who seek to have their right 
to vote restored have the financial and political re-
sources needed to succeed. 
(13) Thirteen percent of the African-American 
adult male population, or 1,400,000 African-Amer-
ican men, are disenfranchised. Given current rates 
of incarceration, 3 in 10 African-American men in 
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the next generation will be disenfranchised at some 
point during their lifetimes. Hispanic citizens are 
also disproportionately disenfranchised, since those 
citizens are disproportionately represented in the 
criminal justice system. 
(14) An estimated 676,730 women are cur-
rently ineligible to vote as a result of a felony convic-
tion. More than 2,000,000 White Americans (His-
panic and non-Hispanic) are disenfranchised as a re-
sult of a felony conviction. In five States that deny 
the vote to ex-offenders, one in four Black men are 
permanently disenfranchised. 
(15) Given current rates of incarceration, 3 in 
10 of the next generation of Black men can expect 
to be disenfranchised at some point in their lifetime. 
In States that disenfranchise ex-offenders, as many 
as 40 percent of Black men may permanently lose 
their right to vote. Two million one hundred thou-
sand disenfranchised persons are ex-offenders who 
have completed their sentences. 
(16) The discrepancies described in this sub-
section should be addressed by Congress, in the 
name of fundamental fairness and equal protection. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to restore 
fairness in the Federal election process by ensuring that 
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ex-offenders who have fully served their sentences are not 
denied the right to vote. 
SEC. 3. RIGHTS OF CITIZENS. 
(a) PROTECTING RIGHT TO VOTE
IN FEDERAL 
ELECTIONS.—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 indi-
vidual has been convicted of a criminal offense unless, at 
the time of the election, such individual is serving a felony 
sentence in a correctional institution or facility. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 
(1) CORRECTIONAL
INSTITUTION
OR
FACIL-
ITY.—The term ‘‘correctional institution or facility’’ 
means any prison, penitentiary, jail, or other institu-
tion or facility for the confinement of individuals 
convicted of criminal offenses, whether publicly or 
privately operated, except that such term does not 
include any residential community treatment center 
(or similar public or private facility). 
(2) ELECTION.—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. 
(3) FEDERAL OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Federal of-
fice’’ means the office of President or Vice Presi-
dent, or of Senator or Representative in, or Delegate 
or Resident Commissioner to, Congress. 
SEC. 4. NOTIFYING INDIVIDUALS WHO REGAIN RIGHT TO 
VOTE. 
(a) REQUIRING NOTIFICATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Chief State correctional 
officer of each State shall ensure that, not later than 
30 days after an individual who is serving a felony 
sentence in a correctional institution or facility in 
the State is released from the institution or facility, 
including an individual who is released on parole or 
probation, the individual is notified of the individ-
ual’s right to vote in elections for Federal office and 
of the date of the next such election in which the in-
dividual may vote. 
(2) EXCEPTION FOR INDIVIDUALS CONTINUING 
TO
SERVE
SENTENCES.—Paragraph (1) does not 
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apply in the case of an individual who is released 
from a correctional institution or facility to serve a 
felony sentence in a different correctional institution 
or facility. 
(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 
(A) the term ‘‘parole’’ means parole (in-
cluding mandatory parole) or conditional or su-
pervised release (including mandatory super-
vised release) which is imposed by a Federal, 
State, or local court; and 
(B) the term ‘‘probation’’ means probation 
imposed by a Federal, State, or local court with 
or without a condition on the individual in-
volved concerning— 
(i) the individual’s freedom of move-
ment, 
(ii) the payment of damages by the in-
dividual, 
(iii) periodic reporting by the indi-
vidual to an officer of the court, or 
(iv) supervision of the individual by an 
officer of the court. 
(b) APPLICATION TO INDIVIDUALS RELEASED FROM 
FEDERAL INSTITUTIONS OR FACILITIES.—Subsection (a) 
shall apply to the Director of the Bureau of Prisons with 
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respect to individuals released from an institution or facil-
ity under the Director’s jurisdiction in the same manner 
as such subsection applies to the Chief State correctional 
officer of a State with respect to individuals released from 
institutions or facilities in that State. 
SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT. 
(a) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney General 
may bring a civil action in a court of competent jurisdic-
tion to obtain such declaratory or injunctive relief as is 
necessary to remedy a violation of this Act. 
(b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 
(1) NOTICE.—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) ACTION.—Except as provided in paragraph 
(3), if the violation is not corrected within 90 days 
after receipt of a notice provided 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 bring a civil action in such a court to 
obtain the declaratory or injunctive relief with re-
spect to the violation. 
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