To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require States to provide notice and an opportunity for review prior to removing any individual from the official list of eligible voters by reason of criminal conviction or mental incapacity.

April 29, 2004

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina (for himself, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. DAVIS of Florida, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. LEE, Mr. BALLANCE, Mr. CLAY, Mr. FORD, Mr. OWENS, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. WATT, Mr. WYNN, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. CASE, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. SHERMAN, and Mr. HOLT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration

To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require States to provide notice and an opportunity for review prior to removing any individual from the official list of eligible voters by reason of criminal conviction or mental incapacity.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Protect American Voters Act of 2004'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress makes the following findings:

(1) Prior to the 2000 Presidential election, which was decided by only 547 votes in Florida, several Florida counties purged their voting rolls of just under 58,000 people who supposedly had committed felonies and were therefore forbidden to vote by Florida law. Those removed from the voting rolls received no notification and were given no chance to appeal the decision.

(2) After the election, it was learned that thousands of Floridians had been mistakenly included on the list of convicted felons used to purge the voter rolls and were incorrectly denied their right to vote.

(3) Purging voting rolls of felons can be a difficult and confusing process for State election officials. Many States do not keep comprehensive data sets of convicted felons. Furthermore, there have been numerous documented instances in which States have incorrectly purged voters because their names were similar to convicted felons, because State records did not distinguish between arrests and convictions, or due to simple clerical errors.

(4) The risk that innocent Americans may be mistakenly denied their Constitutional right to vote is still very real and places the legitimacy of future elections at risk.

SEC. 3. NOTICE AND REVIEW REQUIREMENTS FOR REMOVAL OF INDIVIDUALS FROM OFFICIAL LIST OF ELIGIBLE VOTERS BY REASON OF CRIMINAL CONVICTION OR MENTAL INCAPACITY.

(a) In General- Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg-6) is amended--

(1) by redesignating subsection (j) as subsection (k); and

(2) by inserting after subsection (i) the following new subsection:

`(j) Notice and Review Requirements for Removal of Individuals From List of Eligible Voters by Reason of Criminal Conviction or Mental Incapacity-

`(1) Minimum notice prior to removal-

`(A) In general- In addition to any other requirements applicable under this section, a State may not remove a registrant from the official list of eligible voters for an election for Federal office by reason of criminal conviction or mental incapacity unless the State provides the registrant with a notice of removal meeting the requirements of subparagraph (B) not later than 30 days before the date of the election.

`(B) Requirements for notice- The notice required under this subparagraph shall be sent by forwardable mail, and shall include the following:

`(i) A statement that the State intends to remove the registrant from the official list of eligible voters for elections for Federal office.

`(ii) A description of the reasons for removal, including (in the case of an individual proposed to be removed by reason of criminal conviction) sufficient identifying information on the criminal conviction alleged to be the basis for removal to enable the registrant to determine whether the registrant was convicted of the offense cited in the notice.

`(iii) A statement that the registrant may obtain a review of the removal from an appropriate State election official in accordance with paragraph (2).

`(iv) A postage pre-paid and pre-addressed envelope and a clear list of contact information for the appropriate state election official that includes a mailing address, telephone number, and fax number.

`(2) Review of decision to remove-

`(A) In general- A registrant who receives a notice of removal under paragraph (1) may submit a written request to an appropriate State election official to withdraw the notice and retain the registrant on the official list of eligible voters, and may include in the request such information and evidence as the registrant considers appropriate to show that the registrant is not subject to removal from the list under State law, including information and evidence showing that the registrant was not convicted of the criminal offense cited in the notice (in the case of an individual proposed to be removed by reason of criminal conviction).

`(B) Response by state- Not later than 10 days after receiving a request from a registrant under subparagraph (A), the State shall review the information and evidence included and accept or reject the request, and shall notify the registrant in writing of its decision.

`(3) Opportunity to cast provisional ballot- Any registrant who receives a notice of removal under paragraph (1) and believes that the removal decision was made in error shall be permitted to cast a provisional ballot in an election for Federal office in accordance with section 302(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002.'.

(b) Conforming Amendment- Section 8(a)(3)(B) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1973gg-6(a)(3)(B)) is amended by striking `State law,' and inserting `State law and consistent with the requirements of subsection (j),'.

(c) Effective Date- The amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for Federal office in November 2004 and each succeeding election for Federal office.

SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

Nothing in this Act or any amendment made by this Act may be construed--

(1) to affect the right of any individual to cast a provisional ballot under section 302(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002; or

(2) to prohibit any State from providing individuals threatened with removal from the official list of eligible voters in the State with greater protections than those required under section 8(j) of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (as added by section 2(a)).

END