To secure the Federal voting rights of persons when released from incarceration.

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8941 To secure the Federal voting rights of persons when released from incarceration. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 10, 2020 Mr. HALL introduced the following bill; which was 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. RIGHTS OF CITIZENS. 3 The right of an individual who is a citizen of the 4 United States to vote in any election for Federal office 5 shall not be denied or abridged because that individual has 6 been convicted of a criminal offense unless such individual 7 is serving a felony sentence in a correctional institution 8 or facility at the time of the election. 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Dec 26, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8941.IH H8941 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8941 IH SEC. 2. ENFORCEMENT. 1 (a) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney General 2 may, in a civil action, obtain such declaratory or injunctive 3 relief as is necessary to remedy a violation of this Act. 4 (b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—A person who is aggrieved 6 by a violation of this Act may provide written notice 7 of the violation to the chief election official of the 8 State involved. 9 (2) RELIEF.—Except as provided in paragraph 10 (3), if the violation is not corrected within 90 days 11 after receipt of a notice under paragraph (1), or 12 within 20 days after receipt of the notice if the viola- 13 tion occurred within 120 days before the date of an 14 election for Federal office, the aggrieved person 15 may, in a civil action, obtain declaratory or injunc- 16 tive relief with respect to the violation. 17 (3) EXCEPTION.—If the violation occurred 18 within 30 days before the date of an election for 19 Federal office, the aggrieved person need not provide 20 notice to the chief election official of the State under 21 paragraph (1) before bringing a civil action to obtain 22 declaratory or injunctive relief with respect to the 23 violation. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Dec 26, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8941.IH H8941 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8941 IH SEC. 3. NOTIFICATION OF RESTORATION OF VOTING 1 RIGHTS. 2 (a) STATE NOTIFICATION.— 3 (1) NOTIFICATION.—On the date determined 4 under paragraph (2), each State shall notify in writ- 5 ing any individual who has been convicted of a 6 criminal offense under the law of that State that 7 such individual has the right to vote in an election 8 for Federal office pursuant to the Democracy Res- 9 toration Act of 2020 and may register to vote in any 10 such election. 11 (2) DATE OF NOTIFICATION.— 12 (A) FELONY CONVICTION.—In the case of 13 such an individual who has been convicted of a 14 felony, the notification required under para- 15 graph (1) shall be given on the date on which 16 the individual— 17 (i) is sentenced to serve only a term 18 of probation; or 19 (ii) is released from the custody of 20 that State (other than to the custody of 21 another State or the Federal Government 22 to serve a term of imprisonment for a fel- 23 ony conviction). 24 (B) MISDEMEANOR CONVICTION.—In the 25 case of such an individual who has been con- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Dec 26, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8941.IH H8941 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8941 IH victed of a misdemeanor, the notification re- 1 quired under paragraph (1) shall be given on 2 the date on which such individual is sentenced 3 by a State court. 4 (b) FEDERAL NOTIFICATION.— 5 (1) NOTIFICATION.—Any individual who has 6 been convicted of a criminal offense under Federal 7 law shall be notified in accordance with paragraph 8 (2) that such individual has the right to vote in an 9 election for Federal office pursuant to the Democ- 10 racy Restoration Act of 2020 and may register to 11 vote in any such election. 12 (2) DATE OF NOTIFICATION.— 13 (A) FELONY CONVICTION.—In the case of 14 such an individual who has been convicted of a 15 felony, the notification required under para- 16 graph (1) shall be given— 17 (i) in the case of an individual who is 18 sentenced to serve only a term of proba- 19 tion, by the Assistant Director for the Of- 20 fice of Probation and Pretrial Services of 21 the Administrative Office of the United 22 States Courts on the date on which the in- 23 dividual is sentenced; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Dec 26, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8941.IH H8941 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8941 IH (ii) in the case of any individual com- 1 mitted to the custody of the Bureau of 2 Prisons, by the Director of the Bureau of 3 Prisons, during the period beginning on 4 the date that is 6 months before such indi- 5 vidual is released and ending on the date 6 such individual is released from the cus- 7 tody of the Bureau of Prisons. 8 (B) MISDEMEANOR CONVICTION.—In the 9 case of such an individual who has been con- 10 victed of a misdemeanor, the notification re- 11 quired under paragraph (1) shall be given on 12 the date on which such individual is sentenced 13 by a court established by an Act of Congress. 14 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 15 For purposes of this Act: 16 (1) CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION OR FACIL- 17 ITY.—The term ‘‘correctional institution or facility’’ 18 means any prison, penitentiary, jail, or other institu- 19 tion or facility for the confinement of individuals 20 convicted of criminal offenses, whether publicly or 21 privately operated, except that such term does not 22 include any residential community treatment center 23 (or similar public or private facility). 24 (2) ELECTION.—The term ‘‘election’’ means— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Dec 26, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8941.IH H8941 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8941 IH (A) a general, special, primary, or runoff 1 election; 2 (B) a convention or caucus of a political 3 party held to nominate a candidate; 4 (C) a primary election held for the selec- 5 tion of delegates to a national nominating con- 6 vention of a political party; or 7 (D) a primary election held for the expres- 8 sion of a preference for the nomination of per- 9 sons for election to the office of President. 10 (3) FEDERAL OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Federal of- 11 fice’’ means the office of President or Vice President 12 of the United States, or of Senator or Representa- 13 tive in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, 14 the Congress of the United States. 15 (4) PROBATION.—The term ‘‘probation’’ means 16 probation, imposed by a Federal, State, or local 17 court, with or without a condition on the individual 18 involved concerning— 19 (A) the individual’s freedom of movement; 20 (B) the payment of damages by the indi- 21 vidual; 22 (C) periodic reporting by the individual to 23 an officer of the court; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Dec 26, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8941.IH H8941 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8941 IH (D) supervision of the individual by an of- 1 ficer of the court. 2 SEC. 5. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS. 3 (a) STATE LAWS RELATING TO VOTING RIGHTS.— 4 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit the 5 States from enacting any State law which affords the right 6 to vote in any election for Federal office on terms less 7 restrictive than those established by this Act. 8 (b) CERTAIN FEDERAL ACTS.—The rights and rem- 9 edies established by this Act are in addition to all other 10 rights and remedies provided by law, and neither rights 11 and remedies established by this Act shall supersede, re- 12 strict, or limit the application of the Voting Rights Act 13 of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.) or the National Voter 14 Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.). 15 SEC. 6. FEDERAL PRISON FUNDS. 16 No State, unit of local government, or other person 17 may receive or use, to construct or otherwise improve a 18 prison, jail, or other place of incarceration, any Federal 19 funds unless that person has in effect a program under 20 which each individual incarcerated in that person’s juris- 21 diction who is a citizen of the United States is notified, 22 upon release from such incarceration, of that individual’s 23 rights under section 1. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Dec 26, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8941.IH H8941 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8941 IH SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 1 This Act shall apply to citizens of the United States 2 voting in any election for Federal office held after the date 3 of the enactment of this Act. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Dec 26, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8941.IH H8941 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS