as well. In 11 States, a conviction can result in life-
time disenfranchisement. 
(7) Several States deny the right to vote to in-
dividuals convicted of certain misdemeanors. 
(8) An estimated 5,850,000 citizens of the 
United States, or about 1 in 40 adults in the United 
States, currently cannot vote as a result of a felony 
conviction. Of the estimated 5,850,000 citizens 
barred from voting, only 25 percent are in prison. 
By contrast, 75 percent of the disenfranchised reside 
in their communities while on probation or parole or 
after having completed their sentences. Approxi-
mately 2,600,000 citizens who have completed their 
sentences remain disenfranchised due to restrictive 
state laws. In 6 States (Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, 
Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia) more than 7 
percent of the total population is disenfranchised. 
(9) In those States that disenfranchise individ-
uals who have completed their sentence, the right to 
vote can be regained in theory, but in practice this 
possibility is often granted in a non-uniform and po-
tentially discriminatory manner. Disenfranchised in-
dividuals must either obtain a pardon or an order 
from the Governor or an action by the parole or par-
don board, depending on the offense and State. Indi-
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viduals convicted of a Federal offense often have ad-
ditional barriers to regaining voting rights. 
(10) State disenfranchisement laws dispropor-
tionately impact racial and ethnic minorities. Ap-
proximately 8 percent of the African-American popu-
lation, or more than 2,000,000 African-Americans, 
are disenfranchised. Given current rates of incarcer-
ation, approximately 1 in 3 of the next generation 
of African-American men will be disenfranchised at 
some point during their lifetimes. Currently, 1 of 
every 13 African-Americans are rendered unable to 
vote because of felony disenfranchisement, a rate 4 
times greater than non African-Americans (7.7 per-
cent of African-Americans versus 1.8 percent of non 
African-Americans). In 3 States (Florida, 23 per-
cent; Kentucky, 22 percent; and Virginia, 20 per-
cent) more than 1 in 5 African-Americans are un-
able to vote because of prior convictions. 
(11) Latino citizens are disproportionately 
disenfranchised based upon their disproportionate 
representation in the criminal justice system. If cur-
rent incarceration trends hold, 17 percent of Latino 
men will be incarcerated during their lifetimes, in 
contrast to less than 6 percent of non-Latino White 
men. When analyzing the data across 10 States, 
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Latinos generally have disproportionately higher 
rates of disenfranchisement compared to their pres-
ence in the voting age population. In 6 out of 10 
States studied in 2003, Latinos constitute more 
than 10 percent of the total number of persons 
disenfranchised by State felony laws. In 4 States 
(California, 37 percent; New York, 34 percent; 
Texas, 30 percent; and Arizona, 27 percent) Latinos 
were disenfranchised by a rate of more than 25 per-
cent. 
(12) Disenfranchising citizens who have been 
convicted of a criminal offense and who are living 
and working in the community serves no compelling 
State interest and hinders their rehabilitation and 
reintegration into society. 
(13) State disenfranchisement laws can sup-
press electoral participation among eligible voters by 
discouraging voting among family and community 
members of disenfranchised persons. Future elec-
toral participation by the children of disenfranchised 
parents may be impacted as well. 
(14) The United States is the only Western de-
mocracy that permits the permanent denial of voting 
rights for individuals with felony convictions. 
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SEC. 3. RIGHTS OF CITIZENS. 
(a) PROTECTION OF RIGHTS TO VOTE.—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 fel-
ony sentence in a correctional institution or facility at the 
time of the election. 
(b) CONDITIONING USE OF FEDERAL PRISON FUNDS 
ON NOTIFICATION OF RIGHTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—No State, unit of local gov-
ernment, or other person may receive or use, to con-
struct 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 
jurisdiction who is a citizen of the United States is 
notified, upon release from such incarceration, of 
that individual’s rights under this section. 
(2) EFFECTIVE
DATE.—Paragraph (1) shall 
apply with respect to fiscal year 2015 and each suc-
ceeding fiscal year. 
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) IN GENERAL.—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) RELIEF.—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 viola-
tion occurred within 120 days before the date of an 
election for Federal office, the aggrieved person 
may, in a civil action, obtain declaratory or injunc-
tive relief with respect to the violation. 
(3) EXCEPTION.—If the violation 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 action to obtain 
declaratory or injunctive relief with respect to the 
violation. 
SEC. 5. NOTIFICATION OF RESTORATION OF VOTING 
RIGHTS. 
(a) STATE NOTIFICATION.— 
(1) NOTIFICATION.—On the date determined 
under paragraph (2), each State shall notify in writ-
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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 Act and may reg-
ister to vote in any such election. 
(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; 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 
by a State court. 
(b) FEDERAL NOTIFICATION.— 
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(1) NOTIFICATION.—On the date determined 
under paragraph (2), the applicable official shall no-
tify in writing any individual who has been convicted 
of a criminal offense under Federal law that such in-
dividual has the right to vote in an election for Fed-
eral office pursuant to this Act and may register to 
vote in any such election. 
(2) DATE OF NOTIFICATION.— 
(A) FELONY CONVICTION.—In the case of 
an individual who is convicted of a felony, the 
notification required under paragraph (1) shall 
be given— 
(i) in the case of an individual who is 
sentenced to serve only a term of probation 
by the Federal court, on the date on which 
the individual is sentenced; or 
(ii) in the case of any other such indi-
vidual, at any time during the 6-month pe-
riod which ends on the date on which the 
individual is released from the custody of 
the Bureau of Prisons (unless the indi-
vidual is released to the custody of a State 
to serve a term of imprisonment for a fel-
ony conviction). 
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(B) MISDEMEANOR
CONVICTION.—In the 
case of an individual who has been convicted of 
a misdemeanor under Federal law, the notifica-
tion required under paragraph (1) shall be 
given on the date on which such individual is 
sentenced by the Federal court. 
(3) APPLICABLE
OFFICIAL.—For purposes of 
this subsection, the ‘‘applicable official’’ is, with re-
spect to an individual who has been convicted of a 
criminal offense under Federal law— 
(A) in the case of an individual who has 
been convicted of a misdemeanor, the Director 
of the Bureau of Prisons; 
(B) in the case of an individual who has 
been convicted of a felony but sentenced to 
serve only a term of probation, the head of the 
office responsible for probation and pretrial 
services with respect to the Federal court in-
volved; or 
(C) in the case of any other individual who 
has been convicted of a felony, the Director of 
the Bureau of Prisons. 
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this Act: 
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(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; 
(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, the Congress. 
(4) PROBATION.—The term ‘‘probation’’ means 
probation, imposed by a Federal, State, or local 
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court, with or without a condition on the individual 
involved concerning— 
(A) the individual’s freedom of movement; 
(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. 7. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS. 
(a) STATE LAWS RELATING TO VOTING RIGHTS.— 
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit any 
State from 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) CERTAIN FEDERAL ACTS.—The rights and rem-
edies established by this Act are in addition to all other 
rights and remedies provided by law, and neither rights 
and remedies established by this Act 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 of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973–gg et seq.). 
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SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
This Act shall apply with respect to elections for Fed-
eral office held after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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