Democracy Restoration Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1068 To secure the Federal voting rights of persons when released from incarceration. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 9, 2019 Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. REED, Ms. WARREN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. SAND- ERS, Mrs. MURRAY, Ms. SMITH, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. COONS, Mr. CASEY, Mr. BROWN, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To secure the Federal voting rights of persons when released from incarceration. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Democracy Restoration 4 Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:39 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1068.IS S1068 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1068 IS (1) The right to vote is the most basic constitu- 1 tive act of citizenship. Regaining the right to vote 2 reintegrates individuals with criminal convictions 3 into free society, helping to enhance public safety. 4 (2) Article I, section 4, of the Constitution 5 grants Congress ultimate supervisory power over 6 Federal elections, an authority which has repeatedly 7 been upheld by the United States Supreme Court. 8 (3) Basic constitutional principles of fairness 9 and equal protection require an equal opportunity 10 for citizens of the United States to vote in Federal 11 elections. The right to vote may not be abridged or 12 denied by the United States or by any State on ac- 13 count of race, color, gender, or previous condition of 14 servitude. The 13th, 14th, 15th, 19th, 24th, and 15 26th Amendments to the Constitution empower Con- 16 gress to enact measures to protect the right to vote 17 in Federal elections. The 8th Amendment to the 18 Constitution provides for no excessive bail to be re- 19 quired, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and 20 unusual punishments inflicted. 21 (4) There are 3 areas in which discrepancies in 22 State laws regarding criminal convictions lead to un- 23 fairness in Federal elections— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:39 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1068.IS S1068 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1068 IS (A) the lack of a uniform standard for vot- 1 ing in Federal elections leads to an unfair dis- 2 parity and unequal participation in Federal 3 elections based solely on where a person lives; 4 (B) laws governing the restoration of vot- 5 ing rights after a criminal conviction vary 6 throughout the country and persons in some 7 States can easily regain their voting rights 8 while in other States persons effectively lose 9 their right to vote permanently; and 10 (C) State disenfranchisement laws dis- 11 proportionately impact racial and ethnic minori- 12 ties. 13 (5) State disenfranchisement laws vary widely. 14 Two States do not disenfranchise individuals with 15 criminal convictions at all. In 34 States, individuals 16 with convictions may not vote while they are on pa- 17 role and 30 of those States disenfranchise individ- 18 uals on felony probation as well. In 12 States, a con- 19 viction can result in lifetime disenfranchisement. 20 (6) Several States deny the right to vote to in- 21 dividuals convicted of certain misdemeanors. 22 (7) In 2016, an estimated 6,100,000 citizens of 23 the United States, or about 1 in 40 adults in the 24 United States, could not vote as a result of a felony 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:39 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1068.IS S1068 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1068 IS conviction. Of the 6,100,000 citizens barred from 1 voting then, only 22 percent were in prison. By con- 2 trast, 77 percent of persons disenfranchised then re- 3 sided in their communities while on probation or pa- 4 role or after having completed their sentences. Ap- 5 proximately 3,100,000 citizens who had completed 6 their sentences were disenfranchised due to restric- 7 tive State laws. As of November 2018, the lifetime 8 ban for persons with certain felony convictions was 9 eliminated through a Florida ballot initiative. As a 10 result, as many as 1,400,000 people are now eligible 11 to have their voting rights restored. In 6 States— 12 Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, 13 and Virginia—more than 7 percent of the total pop- 14 ulation is disenfranchised. 15 (8) In those States that disenfranchise individ- 16 uals post-sentence, the right to vote can be regained 17 in theory, but in practice this possibility is often 18 granted in a non-uniform and potentially discrimina- 19 tory manner. Disenfranchised individuals sometimes 20 must either obtain a pardon or an order from the 21 Governor or an action by the parole or pardon 22 board, depending on the offense and State. Individ- 23 uals convicted of a Federal offense often have addi- 24 tional barriers to regaining voting rights. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:39 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1068.IS S1068 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1068 IS (9) State disenfranchisement laws dispropor- 1 tionately impact racial and ethnic minorities. As of 2 2016, more than 7 percent of the voting-age Afri- 3 can-American population, or 2,200,000 African- 4 Americans, were disenfranchised. One out of every 5 13 African-Americans were unable to vote because of 6 felony disenfranchisement, which is a rate more than 7 4 times greater than non-African-Americans. 7.4 8 percent of African-Americans were disenfranchised 9 whereas 1.8 percent of non-African-Americans were. 10 In 2016, in 4 States—Florida (23 percent), Ken- 11 tucky (22 percent), Tennessee (21 percent), and Vir- 12 ginia (20 percent)—more than 1 in 5 African-Ameri- 13 cans were unable to vote because of prior convic- 14 tions. 15 (10) Latino citizens are also disproportionately 16 disenfranchised based upon their disproportionate 17 representation in the criminal justice system. If cur- 18 rent incarceration trends hold, the lifetime likelihood 19 of incarceration for males born in 2001 is 17 per- 20 cent for Latinos, in contrast to less than 6 percent 21 for non-Latino White men. When analyzing the data 22 across 10 States, Latinos generally have dispropor- 23 tionately higher rates of disenfranchisement com- 24 pared to their presence in the voting age population. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:39 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1068.IS S1068 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 1068 IS In 6 out of 10 States studied in 2003, Latinos con- 1 stituted more than 10 percent of the total number 2 of persons disenfranchised by State felony laws. In 3 4 States (California, 37 percent; New York, 34 per- 4 cent; Texas, 30 percent; and Arizona, 27 percent), 5 Latinos were disenfranchised by a rate of more than 6 25 percent. 7 (11) Disenfranchising citizens who have been 8 convicted of a criminal offense and who are living 9 and working in the community serves no compelling 10 State interest and hinders their rehabilitation and 11 reintegration into society. 12 (12) State disenfranchisement laws can sup- 13 press electoral participation among eligible voters by 14 discouraging voting among family and community 15 members of disenfranchised persons. Future elec- 16 toral participation by the children of disenfranchised 17 parents may be impacted as well. 18 (13) The United States is the only Western de- 19 mocracy that permits the permanent denial of voting 20 rights for individuals with felony convictions. 21 SEC. 3. RIGHTS OF CITIZENS. 22 The right of an individual who is a citizen of the 23 United States to vote in any election for Federal office 24 shall not be denied or abridged because that individual has 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:39 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1068.IS S1068 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 1068 IS been convicted of a criminal offense unless such individual 1 is serving a felony sentence in a correctional institution 2 or facility at the time of the election. 3 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT. 4 (a) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney General 5 may, in a civil action, obtain such declaratory or injunctive 6 relief as is necessary to remedy a violation of this Act. 7 (b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—A person who is aggrieved 9 by a violation of this Act may provide written notice 10 of the violation to the chief election official of the 11 State involved. 12 (2) RELIEF.—Except as provided in paragraph 13 (3), if the violation is not corrected within 90 days 14 after receipt of a notice under paragraph (1), or 15 within 20 days after receipt of the notice if the viola- 16 tion occurred within 120 days before the date of an 17 election for Federal office, the aggrieved person 18 may, in a civil action, obtain declaratory or injunc- 19 tive relief with respect to the violation. 20 (3) EXCEPTION.—If the violation occurred 21 within 30 days before the date of an election for 22 Federal office, the aggrieved person need not provide 23 notice to the chief election official of the State under 24 paragraph (1) before bringing a civil action to obtain 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:39 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1068.IS S1068 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 1068 IS declaratory or injunctive relief with respect to the 1 violation. 2 SEC. 5. NOTIFICATION OF RESTORATION OF VOTING 3 RIGHTS. 4 (a) STATE NOTIFICATION.— 5 (1) NOTIFICATION.—On the date determined 6 under paragraph (2), each State shall notify in writ- 7 ing any individual who has been convicted of a 8 criminal offense under the law of that State that 9 such individual has the right to vote in an election 10 for Federal office pursuant to the Democracy Res- 11 toration Act of 2019 and may register to vote in any 12 such election and provide such individuals with any 13 materials that are necessary to register to vote in 14 any such election. 15 (2) DATE OF NOTIFICATION.— 16 (A) FELONY CONVICTION.—In the case of 17 such an individual who has been convicted of a 18 felony, the notification required under para- 19 graph (1) shall be given on the date on which 20 the individual— 21 (i) is sentenced to serve only a term 22 of probation; or 23 (ii) is released from the custody of 24 that State (other than to the custody of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:39 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1068.IS S1068 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 1068 IS another State or the Federal Government 1 to serve a term of imprisonment for a fel- 2 ony conviction). 3 (B) MISDEMEANOR CONVICTION.—In the 4 case of such an individual who has been con- 5 victed of a misdemeanor, the notification re- 6 quired under paragraph (1) shall be given on 7 the date on which such individual is sentenced 8 by a State court. 9 (b) FEDERAL NOTIFICATION.— 10 (1) NOTIFICATION.—Any individual who has 11 been convicted of a criminal offense under Federal 12 law shall be notified in accordance with paragraph 13 (2) that such individual has the right to vote in an 14 election for Federal office pursuant to the Democ- 15 racy Restoration Act of 2019 and may register to 16 vote in any such election. 17 (2) DATE OF NOTIFICATION.— 18 (A) FELONY CONVICTION.—In the case of 19 such an individual who has been convicted of a 20 felony, the notification required under para- 21 graph (1) shall be given— 22 (i) in the case of an individual who is 23 sentenced to serve only a term of proba- 24 tion, by the Assistant Director for the Of- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:39 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1068.IS S1068 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 1068 IS fice of Probation and Pretrial Services of 1 the Administrative Office of the United 2 States Courts on the date on which the in- 3 dividual is sentenced; or 4 (ii) in the case of any individual com- 5 mitted to the custody of the Bureau of 6 Prisons, by the Director of the Bureau of 7 Prisons, during the period beginning on 8 the date that is 6 months before such indi- 9 vidual is released and ending on the date 10 such individual is released from the cus- 11 tody of the Bureau of Prisons. 12 (B) MISDEMEANOR CONVICTION.—In the 13 case of such an individual who has been con- 14 victed of a misdemeanor, the notification re- 15 quired under paragraph (1) shall be given on 16 the date on which such individual is sentenced 17 by a court established by an Act of Congress. 18 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 19 For purposes of this Act: 20 (1) CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION OR FACIL- 21 ITY.—The term ‘‘correctional institution or facility’’ 22 means any prison, penitentiary, jail, or other institu- 23 tion or facility for the confinement of individuals 24 convicted of criminal offenses, whether publicly or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:39 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1068.IS S1068 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 1068 IS privately operated, except that such term does not 1 include any residential community treatment center 2 (or similar public or private facility). 3 (2) ELECTION.—The term ‘‘election’’ means— 4 (A) a general, special, primary, or runoff 5 election; 6 (B) a convention or caucus of a political 7 party held to nominate a candidate; 8 (C) a primary election held for the selec- 9 tion of delegates to a national nominating con- 10 vention of a political party; or 11 (D) a primary election held for the expres- 12 sion of a preference for the nomination of per- 13 sons for election to the office of President. 14 (3) FEDERAL OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Federal of- 15 fice’’ means the office of President or Vice President 16 of the United States, or of Senator or Representa- 17 tive in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, 18 the Congress of the United States. 19 (4) PROBATION.—The term ‘‘probation’’ means 20 probation, imposed by a Federal, State, or local 21 court, with or without a condition on the individual 22 involved concerning— 23 (A) the individual’s freedom of movement; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:39 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1068.IS S1068 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 1068 IS (B) the payment of damages by the indi- 1 vidual; 2 (C) periodic reporting by the individual to 3 an officer of the court; or 4 (D) supervision of the individual by an of- 5 ficer of the court. 6 SEC. 7. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS. 7 (a) STAT [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]