or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the re-
mainder of this title and the amendments made by this 
title, and the application of the provisions to any person 
or circumstance, shall not be affected by the holding. 
TITLE IV—RESTORING VOTING 
RIGHTS 
SEC. 401. 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 such individual 
is serving a felony sentence in a correctional institution 
or facility at the time of the election. 
SEC. 402. 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 title. 
(b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 
(1) NOTICE TO ELECTION OFFICIAL.—A person 
who is aggrieved by a violation of this title may pro-
vide written notice of the violation to the chief elec-
tion official of the State involved. 
(2) ACTION PERMITTED.—Except as provided 
in paragraph (3), if the violation is not corrected 
within 90 days after receipt of a notice under para-
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graph (1), or within 20 days after receipt of the no-
tice if the violation occurred within 120 days before 
the date of an election for Federal office, the ag-
grieved person may, in a civil action obtain declara-
tory or injunctive relief with respect to the violation. 
(3) WAIVER OF NOTICE FOR VIOLATIONS OC-
CURRING NEAR DATE OF ELECTION.—If the viola-
tion occurred within 30 days before 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) before bringing a civil ac-
tion to obtain declaratory or injunctive relief with re-
spect to the violation. 
SEC. 403. NOTIFICATION OF RESTORATION OF VOTING 
RIGHTS. 
(a) STATE NOTIFICATION.— 
(1) NOTIFICATION.—On the date determined 
under paragraph (2), each State shall notify in writ-
ing any individual who has been convicted of a 
criminal offense under the law of that State that 
such individual has the right to vote in an election 
for Federal office pursuant to this title and may reg-
ister to vote in any such election. 
(2) DATE OF NOTIFICATION.— 
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(A) FELONY CONVICTION.—In the case of 
such an individual who has been convicted of a 
felony, the notification required under para-
graph (1) shall be given on the date on which 
the individual— 
(i) is sentenced to serve only a term 
of probation; or 
(ii) is released from the custody of 
that State (other than to the custody of 
another State or the Federal Government 
to serve a term of imprisonment for a fel-
ony conviction). 
(B) MISDEMEANOR
CONVICTION.—In the 
case of such an individual who has been con-
victed of a misdemeanor, the notification re-
quired under paragraph (1) shall be given on 
the date on which such individual is sentenced. 
(b) FEDERAL NOTIFICATION.— 
(1) NOTIFICATION.—On the date determined 
under paragraph (2), the Director of the Bureau of 
Prisons shall notify in writing any individual who 
has been convicted of a criminal offense under Fed-
eral law that such individual has the right to vote 
in an election for Federal office pursuant to this 
title and may register to vote in any such election. 
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(2) DATE OF NOTIFICATION.— 
(A) FELONY CONVICTION.—In the case of 
such an individual who has been convicted of a 
felony, the notification required under para-
graph (1) shall be given on the date on which 
the individual— 
(i) is sentenced to serve only a term 
of probation by a court established by an 
Act of Congress; or 
(ii) is released from the custody of the 
Bureau of Prisons (other than to the cus-
tody of a State to serve a term of impris-
onment for a felony conviction). 
(B) MISDEMEANOR
CONVICTION.—In the 
case of such an individual who has been con-
victed of a misdemeanor, the notification re-
quired under paragraph (1) shall be given on 
the date on which such individual is sentenced. 
SEC. 404. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this title: 
(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 
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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; 
(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 President 
of the United States, or of Senator or Representa-
tive in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, 
the Congress of the United States. 
(4) PROBATION.—The term ‘‘probation’’ means 
probation, imposed by a Federal, State, or local 
court, with or without a condition on the individual 
involved concerning— 
(A) the individual’s freedom of movement; 
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(B) the payment of damages by the indi-
vidual; 
(C) periodic reporting by the individual to 
an officer of the court; or 
(D) supervision of the individual by an of-
ficer of the court. 
SEC. 405. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS. 
(a) STATE LAWS RELATING TO VOTING RIGHTS.— 
Nothing in this title shall be construed to prohibit the 
States enacting any State law which affords the right to 
vote in any election for Federal office on terms less restric-
tive than those established by this title. 
(b) CERTAIN FEDERAL ACTS.—The rights and rem-
edies established by this title are in addition to all other 
rights and remedies provided by law, and neither rights 
and remedies established by this title shall supersede, re-
strict, 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). 
SEC. 406. FEDERAL PRISON FUNDS. 
No State, unit of local government, or other person 
may receive or use, to construct or otherwise improve a 
prison, jail, or other place of incarceration, any Federal 
grant amounts unless that person has in effect a program 
under which each individual incarcerated in that person’s 
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jurisdiction who is a citizen of the United States is noti-
fied, upon release from such incarceration, of that individ-
ual’s rights under section 401. 
SEC. 407. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
This title shall apply to citizens of the United States 
voting in any election for Federal office held after the date 
of the enactment of this Act. 
TITLE V—ELECTION DAY AS 
LEGAL PUBLIC HOLIDAY 
SEC. 501. TREATMENT OF ELECTION DAY IN SAME MANNER 
AS LEGAL PUBLIC HOLIDAY FOR PURPOSES 
OF FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT. 
For purposes of any law relating to Federal employ-
ment, the Tuesday next after the first Monday in Novem-
ber in 2010 and each even-numbered year thereafter shall 
be treated in the same manner as a legal public holiday 
described in section 6103 of title 5, United States Code. 
SEC. 502. STUDY BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF IMPACT 
ON VOTER PARTICIPATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General shall 
conduct a study of the impact of section 501 on voter par-
ticipation. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than May 1, 2015, the 
Comptroller General shall submit a report to Congress and 
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the President on the results of the study conducted under 
subsection (a). 
SEC. 503. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING TREATMENT 
OF DAY BY PRIVATE EMPLOYERS. 
It is the sense of Congress that private employers in 
the United States should give their employees a day off 
on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November 
in 2010 and each even-numbered year thereafter to enable 
the employees to cast votes in the elections held on that 
day. 
Æ 
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