reintegrates offenders into free society, helping to 
enhance public safety. 
(2) Article I, section 4 of the Constitution of 
the United States grants Congress ultimate super-
visory power over Federal elections, an authority 
which has repeatedly been upheld by the Supreme 
Court. 
(3) Basic constitutional principles of fairness 
and equal protection require an equal opportunity 
for Americans to vote in Federal elections. 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. The 14th 
and 15th Amendments to the Constitution empower 
Congress to enact measures to protect the right to 
vote in Federal elections. 
(4) There are three areas where discrepancies 
in State laws regarding felony convictions lead to 
unfairness in Federal elections: (A) there is no uni-
form standard for voting in Federal elections which 
leads to an unfair disparity and unequal participa-
tion in Federal elections based solely on where a per-
son lives; (B) laws governing the restoration of vot-
ing rights after a felony conviction are unequal 
throughout the country and persons in some States 
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can easily regain their voting rights while in other 
States persons effectively lose their right to vote per-
manently; and (C) State disenfranchisement laws 
disproportionately impact racial ethnic minorities. 
(5) Disenfranchisement results from varying 
State laws that restrict voting while under some 
form of criminal justice supervision or after the com-
pletion of a felony sentence in some States. Two 
States do not disenfranchise felons at all (Maine and 
Vermont). Forty-eight States and the District of Co-
lumbia have disenfranchisement laws that deprive 
convicted offenders of the right to vote while they 
are in prison. In thirty-five States, convicted offend-
ers may not vote while they are on parole and thirty 
of these States disenfranchise felony probationers as 
well. In ten States, a conviction can result in lifetime 
disenfranchisement. 
(6) An estimated 5,300,000 Americans, or 
about one in forty-one adults, currently cannot vote 
as a result of a felony conviction. Nearly 4,000,000 
(74 percent) of the 5,300,000 disqualified voters are 
not in prison, but are on probation or parole, or are 
ex-offenders. Approximately 2,000,000 of those indi-
viduals are individuals who have completed their en-
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tire sentence, including probation and parole, yet re-
main disenfranchised. 
(7) In those States that disenfranchise ex-of-
fenders, the right to vote can be regained in theory, 
but in practice this possibility is often illusory. Of-
fenders must either obtain a pardon or order from 
the Governor or action by the parole or pardon 
board, depending on the offense and State. Offend-
ers convicted of a Federal offense often have addi-
tional barriers to regaining voting rights. 
(8) In at least 16 States, Federal offenders 
cannot use the State procedure for restoring their 
civil rights. The only method provided by Federal 
law for restoring voting rights to ex-offenders is a 
Presidential pardon. Few persons who seek to have 
their right to vote restored have the financial and 
political resources needed to succeed. 
(9) State disenfranchisement laws dispropor-
tionately impact ethnic minorities. Thirteen percent 
of the African American adult male population, or 
1,400,000 
African 
American 
men, 
are 
disenfranchised. Given current rates of incarcer-
ation, three in ten of the next generation of black 
men will be disenfranchised at some point during 
their lifetime. Hispanic citizens are also dispropor-
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tionately disenfranchised since they are dispropor-
tionately represented in the criminal justice system. 
(10) Disenfranchising citizens who have been 
convicted of a felony offense and who are living and 
working in the community serves no compelling 
State interest and hinders their rehabilitation and 
reintegration into society. 
(11) State disenfranchisement laws suppress 
electoral participation among eligible voters and 
damage the integrity of the electoral process. State 
disenfranchisement laws significantly impact the rate 
of electoral participation among the children of 
disenfranchised parents. 
(12) The United States in the only Western de-
mocracy that permits the permanent denial of voting 
rights to individuals with felony convictions. 
SEC. 3. 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. 
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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. 
(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. NOTIFICATION OF RESTORATION OF VOTING 
RIGHTS. 
(a) STATE NOTIFICATION.— 
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(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 the Democracy Res-
toration Act and may register 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 
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the date on which such individual is sentenced 
by a State court. 
(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 the De-
mocracy Restoration Act and may register 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 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). 
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(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. 
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of 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; 
(C) a primary election held for the selec-
tion of delegates to a national nominating con-
vention of a political party; or 
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(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; 
(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 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 Act. 
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(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 (42 U.S.C. 1973–gg). 
SEC. 8. 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 
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 3. 
SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
This Act 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. 
Æ 
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