Title V — Democracy Restoration

H.R. 12 · 113th Congress · Jan 23, 2013 · Lineage

V Democracy Restoration

Sec. 501 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. 502 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)

A person who is aggrieved by a violation of this title 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 respect to the violation.

(3)

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. 503 Notification of restoration of voting rights

(a)

State notification—

(1)

Notification— On the date determined under paragraph (2), each State shall notify in writing 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 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 paragraph (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 felony conviction).

(B)

Misdemeanor conviction— In the case of such an individual who has been convicted of a misdemeanor, the notification required under paragraph (1) shall be given on 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 Federal 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.

(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 paragraph (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 custody of a State to serve a term of imprisonment for a felony conviction).

(B)

Sec. 504 Definitions

For purposes of this title:

(1)

Correctional institution or facility— The term correctional institution or facility means any prison, penitentiary, jail, or other institution 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 selection of delegates to a national nominating convention of a political party; or

(D)

a primary election held for the expression of a preference for the nomination of persons for election to the office of President.

(3)

Federal office— The term Federal office means the office of President or Vice President of the United States, or of Senator or Representative 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 individual;

(C)

periodic reporting by the individual to an officer of the court; or

(D)

supervision of the individual by an officer of the court.

Sec. 505 Relation to other laws

(a)

State laws relating to voting rights— Nothing in this title shall be construed to prohibit the States 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 title.

(b)

Certain Federal Acts— The rights and remedies 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, restrict, 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. 1973gg).

Sec. 506 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 notified, upon release from such incarceration, of that individual’s rights under section 501.

Sec. 507 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.

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Jan 23, 2013viewing Introduced in House Mr. Lewis (for himself, Mr. Clyburn, Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Andrews, Ms. Bass, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Becerra, Mr. Bera of California, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Mr. Bishop of New York, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. Bonamici, Ms. Bordallo, Mr. Braley of Iowa, Ms. Brown of Florida, Ms. Brownley of California, Mrs. Bustos, Mr. Butterfield, Mrs. Capps, Mr. Cárdenas, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Cartwright, Ms. Castor of Florida, Mr. Castro of Texas, Mrs. Christensen, Ms. Chu, Mr. Cicilline, Ms. Clarke, Mr. Clay, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Costa, Mr. Courtney, Mr. Crowley, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Mrs. Davis of California, Mr. DeFazio, Ms. DeGette, Mr. Delaney, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Deutch, Mr. Dingell, Mr. Doggett, Mr. Doyle, Ms. Edwards, Mr. Ellison, Ms. Eshoo, Ms. Esty, Mr. Faleomavaega, Mr. Farr, Mr. Fattah, Mr. Foster, Ms. Frankel of Florida, Ms. Fudge, Ms. Gabbard, Mr. Garamendi, Mr. Al Green of Texas, Mr. Gene Green of Texas, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Gutierrez, Ms. Hahn, Ms. Hanabusa, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Higgins, Mr. Himes, Mr. Hinojosa, Mr. Holt, Mr. Honda, Mr. Horsford, Mr. Huffman, Mr. Israel, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr. Jeffries, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Keating, Mr. Kildee, Mr. Kind, Mrs. Kirkpatrick, Mr. Langevin, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. Levin, Mr. Loebsack, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Lowenthal, Mrs. Lowey, Mr. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico, Ms. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, Mr. Maffei, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, Ms. Matsui, Mrs. McCarthy of New York, Ms. McCollum, Mr. McDermott, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Meng, Mr. Michaud, Mr. George Miller of California, Ms. Moore, Mr. Moran, Mr. Murphy of Florida, Mr. Nadler, Mrs. Napolitano, Mrs. Negrete McLeod, Mr. Nolan, Ms. Norton, Mr. O'Rourke, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Payne, Mr. Peters of Michigan, Mr. Pierluisi, Ms. Pingree of Maine, Mr. Pocan, Mr. Polis, Mr. Price of North Carolina, Mr. Quigley, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Richmond, Mr. Ruiz, Mr. Ruppersberger, Mr. Rush, Mr. Ryan of Ohio, Mr. Sablan, Ms. Linda T. Sánchez of California, Ms. Loretta Sanchez of California, Mr. Sarbanes, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Schiff, Ms. Schwartz, Mr. David Scott of Georgia, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Mr. Serrano, Ms. Sewell of Alabama, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Sires, Ms. Slaughter, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Swalwell of California, Mr. Takano, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Thompson of California, Mr. Tierney, Ms. Titus, Mr. Tonko, Ms. Tsongas, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Vargas, Mr. Veasey, Ms. Velázquez, Mr. Visclosky, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Waters, Mr. Watt, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Welch, Ms. Wilson of Florida, and Mr. Yarmuth) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Science, Space, and Technology, Veterans’ Affairs, Oversight and Government Reform, and Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned