I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4861
To secure the Federal voting rights of certain qualified ex-offenders who
have served their sentences.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 4, 2002
Mr. RANGEL 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 2002’’.
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
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) Congress has ultimate supervisory power
over Federal elections, an authority that has repeat-
edly been upheld by the Supreme Court.
(3) Although State laws determine the quali-
fications for voting in Federal elections, Congress
must ensure that those laws are in accordance with
the 
Constitution. 
Currently, 
those 
laws 
vary
throughout the Nation, resulting in discrepancies re-
garding which citizens may vote in Federal elections.
(4) An estimated 3,900,000 individuals in the
United States, or 1 in 50 adults, currently cannot
vote as a result of a felony conviction. Women rep-
resent about 500,000 of those 3,900,000.
(5) State disenfranchisement laws dispropor-
tionately impact ethnic minorities.
(6) Fourteen States disenfranchise ex-offenders
who have fully served their sentences, regardless of
the nature or seriousness of the offense.
(7) 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.
(8) In 8 States, a pardon or order from the
Governor is required for an ex-offender to regain the
right to vote. In 2 States, ex-offenders must obtain
action by the parole or pardon board to regain that
right.
(9) 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.
(10) Few persons who seek to have their right
to vote restored have the financial and political re-
sources needed to succeed.
(11) 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
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.
(12) 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
ex-offenders who have fully served their sentences are not
denied the right to vote.
SEC. 3. 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;
SEC. 4. RIGHTS OF CITIZENS.
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 unless, at the time
of the election, such individual—
(1) is serving a felony sentence in a correctional
institution or facility; or
(2) is on parole or probation for a felony of-
fense.
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.
(3) ACTION FOR VIOLATION SHORTLY BEFORE
A
FEDERAL
ELECTION.—If the violation occurred
within 30 days before the date of an election for
Federal office, the aggrieved person shall not be re-
quired to provide notice to the chief election official
of the State under paragraph (1) before bringing a
civil action in such a court to obtain the declaratory
or injunctive relief with respect to the violation.
SEC. 6. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.
(a) NO
PROHIBITION
ON
LESS
RESTRICTIVE
LAWS.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit
a State from enacting any State law that affords the right
to vote in any election for Federal office on terms less
restrictive than those terms established by this Act.
(b) NO LIMITATION ON OTHER LAWS.—The rights
and remedies established by this Act shall be in addition
to all other rights and remedies provided by law, and shall
not supersede, restrict, or limit the application of the Vot-
ing Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.) or the
National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C.
1973gg et seq.).
Æ