I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1433
To secure the Federal voting rights of certain qualified ex-offenders who 
have served their sentences. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 25, 2003
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 2003’’. 
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;
(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. 
(4) PAROLE.—The term ‘‘parole’’ means parole 
(including mandatory parole), or conditional or su-
pervised release (including mandatory supervised re-
lease), imposed by a Federal, State, or local court. 
(5) 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. 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